SB 205 
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Copy 1 




L. F. Graber 




"ALFALFA" 



A HANDBOOK FOR THE ALFALFA 
GROWER AND STUDENT 



BY 

L. F. GRABER 

u 

Assistant Professor of Agronomy 

University of Wisconsin 

SECRETARY OP WISCONSIN ALFALFA ORDER 



Published by 

L. F. GRABER 

Madison, Wisconsin 



copyright, iyi8 
By L. P. Orabcr 



FOREWORD 



^Tf^ISCONSIN'S state alfalfa grower's association is officially known 
f I I as the Alfalfa Order of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment 
^^^ Association. It was organized to increase and extend the 
alfalfa acreage of the state by numerous state wide cooperative demon- 
strational and experimental tests which have and will most effectually 
solve the difficulties and problems that hinder the onward progress 
of our greatest hay crop — ALFALFA. 

The association began its work in 19n. At that time Wisconsin 
produced about 50,000 tons of alfalfa hay. The United States Bureau 
of Crop Estimates credits Wisconsin with a total production of 361,000 
tons for 1915 — which was the largest production of alfalfa in any single 
state of the Middle West. This seven-fold increase reflects what co- 
operation and demonstration will do when carried on by a live organ- 
ization with a membership of over 1000. 

During the past six years 1 have received, as secretary of the 
Alfalfa Order over 3,000 reports from our members of successes and 
failures with alfalfa. The experimental work at the Wisconsin Ex- 
periment Station includes over 600 plots of various strains and varieties 
of alfalfa which were sown under widely varying conditions and methods. 
This publication tells the story of these experimental tests and the ex- 
periences of our members. 

Seven of the articles appeared serially in the Country Gentleman 
from December 1916 to June 1917. The article on "When to Cut 
Alfalfa" appeared in Hoard's Dairyman, May 1915. For permission 
to reprint these 1 am truly grateful. They were written to present 
the fundamentals of alfalfa growing in the East and Middle West in 
a readable and interesting manner and to start beginners right with 
alfalfa. The author desires to extend credit also to Peter Swartz, 
President of the Wisconsin Alfalfa Order, Waukesha, Wis., S. J. Hen- 
derson, Omaha, Nebraska, Dr. W. M. Williams, Harlem, Mont., John 
Waelti, Monroe, Wis., Ernest Thoma, Sugar Bush, Wis., the Jeffrey 
Manufacturing Company, Columbus, Ohio, the John Deere Plow Co., 
Moline, 111., the United States Department of Agriculture and to the 
Agricultural Bacteriology, the Agronomy and Soils Departments of 
the Wisconsin College of Agriculture for illustrations provided. 

L. F. Graber, 

Madison, Wisconsin 



m '8 »9i8 

©C!,A41}29()6 



Alfalfa Criticisms Answered 



I'LL tell you why I don't grow alfalfa. It's because I've tried 
it!" A number of farmers were on their way to a Pure-Bred 
Grain Show which was being sponsored by a progressive banker 
in the southern part of the state. That they were having a lively 
discussion was indicated by the rather loud tone of the conversation. 
A short, robust fellow with a cigar of the same build was doing the 
talking: 

"I got inoculated with the alfalfa bug three years ago. It's a 
mighty bad disease, I'll tell you. Cost me more'n a hundred dollars 
to get cured." 

They all laughed. 

"You see, there was so much being written and said about this 
blasted crop it naturally got my goat, and I began to dream about 
getting five or six tons to the acre of a kind of hay that's twice as 
good for stock as timothy. And the more I dreamed about it the 
more acres I wanted to plant. So I struck out the next spring with 
twenty acres. Seeded with oats, just the way I did my timothy and 
clover. Got an awful big crop of oats, but alfalfa — well, it looked 
all right in the fall; in fact 1 was pretty much tickled and I bragged a 
little to my neighbors about it. 

His Alfalfa had the Jaundice 

"But, sir, the next May I was plumb disgusted, and the alfalfa 
looked just the way I felt. It didn't amount to a whoop. It was 
thin, yellow and sickly. It had the jaundice! Wouldn't grow. I 
was sore, and plowed the whole business up and put it into corn. 
Maybe I wasn't guyed some by the neighbors. They haven't for- 
gotten about it yet. 1 haven't either, and it'll be some time before 
I do. It's easy enough for some of these fellows to come here and 
talk more alfalfa, but it's another thing to grow it." 

The last thrust hit the mark, for it was just exactly what I was 
going to do. But I kept my peace. A rather tall member of the 
group, smooth shaven and well dressed, who had had little to say, 
spoke up: 

"I live eight miles from here, over at Winton. My name is Wil- 
liams. We are growing alfalfa over there. I've got thirty acres of 
it right now — as fine as you ever saw. Let me tell you my experience: 

"Five years ago I put in ten acres just the way you did and I got 
the same result. But I didn't quit. I made up my mind to grow 
alfalfa or bust. Lucky enough we had an institute that winter, 
and they had a fellow who was an old hand at alfalfa growing in 
this state. I'll never forget what he told me: 'If you think that 
this lime and inoculation business is all humbug, leave alfalfa alone. 
Stick to timothy and clover.' " 

Inoculated with Right Ideas 

"Well, sir, I've realized since that he inoculated me with the right 
ideas about growing alfalfa. I bought a carload of lime that winter, 



and I've bought two carloads since then. Every new piece of alfalfa 
I put in is inoculated and limed. That's the secret of the whole 
proposition. But I have had my troubles too. Last winter I lost 
ten acres. I cut it late in October and the patch killed out. The 
fields that 1 cut early in September came through fine. And be- 
lieve me, you can't pasture it either if you want to keep a good stand." 
"But isn't it true that even with the best of care alfalfa winter- 
kills?" asked a very much interested one of the group. 




Fig. I. Equipped to grow his own feed with alfalfa for hay and corn for the silo. 

"Yes, it does. When we get an open winter with little snow and 
then lots of alternate freezing and thawing and formation of smother- 
ing ice-sheets, alfalfa — especially on flat land — will kill out. That's 
what happened in many places last year. But clover goes, too, so I 
guess we have got to look at it as a weather proposition just as we 
would a hailstorm or a drought. We can't control the weather. 
But they say there are some kinds of alfalfa that don't winterkill. 
We'll hear about them later." (See Figs. 50 and 51.) 

An elderly man with a long gray beard leaned over the edge of 
his seat. His voice was rather husky, but he had a clear, intelligent 
eye and a face that bespoke toil and success. 

"I have been listening to this discussion and 1 suppose if we keep 
on there'll be no need of going to the meeting, "^^ he said. "We'll 
have it all threshed out beforehand. But I'm interested. I've 
turned the farm over to the boy. He's been introducin' a lot of 
ideas and practices that we never thought of years ago. At first I 
was a little scared the boy was going wild. But now I'm satisfied 
to let him go ahead. 

Lime Pays 

"When the boy bought his first carload of lime and then went to 
all the extra trouble of inoculating and getting a good seed bed and 



paying four to five dollars an acre for alfalfa seed, I figured he'd 
have to get some alfalfa yields to make it pay. But it's paid well. 
Alfalfa costs extra, but pays double extra. And do you know that 
after a field has once grown alfalfa it is much less expensive to get a 
stand than it is with a new field that has never grown it before^ 
"As my son argued with me when he first started out, 'If my al- 
falfa will last me for three years or five years the first cost of getting 
a stand does not amount to much when distributed over this period 
of years. With corn you have the expense of plowing and planting 
every year.' 

The Hustler's Hay 

"If you want to know what our greatest trouble with alfalfa is 
I'll say it's labor. When I grew a mixture of timothy and clover 
I cut it once for hay and in some years I got a crop of clover seed. 
But alfalfa gives you three jobs of haying every year. It's no lazy 
man's crop. You've got to be a hustler, like the plant itself. 




Fig. 2. Proper soil treatment may double the yields. 

"The boy now has fifty acres and he has his hands full. But he's 
a good manager and he keeps those barns full, too, and full of the 
finest hay in the world." 

The elderly man grew enthusiastic; that he was proud of his son 
was very evident. 

"Oh, yes, we have our alfalfa troubles. Two years ago we lost 
our first cutting on twenty acres. It rained so much that it just 
rotted. But the boy doesn't worry about curing alfalfa. It's no 
harder than curing clover, and alfalfa hay will stand more rain than 
either clover or timothy. If he loses the first crop he has two ad- 
ditional crops to bank on. And then he always hires extra help. 
It pa5'^s him. Look at the extra feed he gets, 

"I know alfalfa doubles up the farm work round corn-cultivating 
time. It takes extra help, but the extra profits will take care of that. 

Blue-Grass Troubles 

"Many of the farmers in our section complain about blue-grass' 
crowding out alfalfa. But I've noticed that it's always those fellows 
who cut their alfalfa late in the fall or pasture it who complain the 
most. They expect too much from their alfalfa when they take a 
cutting in October or pasture in the fall. That causes winterkilling. 



Then the blue grass naturally takes the place of the dead alfalfa 
plants and makes a very prominent appearance at the time of the 
first cutting. It then gets the blame for the thinned stand of 
alfalfa, though the condition was entirely due to winterkilling by 
the late fall cutting or pasturing. Of course, after the June grass 
has gained a good foothold it will then gradually crowd out the al- 
falfa, but most of this blue-grass tiouble is due to late cutting or 
pasturing or real hard winter weather. (See Figs. 14 and 37.) 




Fig. 3. Alfalfa excels as feed for all kincs of livestock. 

Alfalfa — 111 the Rotation 

"Do you know what my boy is planning on doing now? Well, 
sir, he is going to put alfalfa into a regular rotation just as I used 
to handle clover. He has grown alfalfa on that faim until now it's 
just as easy for him to get a stand of alfalfa as of timothy and clover. 
He plans to plow his third crop every two years in a rotation of two 
years of corn, and then seed down to alfalfa for two years, using 
barley as a nurse crop. I guess this is alright, but it's one of these 
new ideas that are haid for fellows like me to see. I'd rather have 
an alfalfa field stand as long as it would produce satisfactory crops. 
But everybody to his o\\n judgment on this proposition. One thing, 
it's quite a job to plow up an old alfalfa field. (See Fig. 13.) 

Don't Be Prejudiced 

"Did you ever hear Jce Wing talk alfalfa? He used to say it 



took three things to plow an alfalfa field — a good sharp plow, a strong 
team and a Christian man." The old man chuckled. "I guess he 
was right too. Oh, 1 tell you, gentlemen, alfalfa like any other crop 
has its good points and its bad points. It's for the beginner to weigh 
the evidence on both sides as applied to his farm conditions. Per- 
haps his land is too flat and sour for alfalfa, or the necessary lime is 
too costly to haul and apply, or he may have a hard-pan sub-soil 
and poor drainage. (See Fig. 40.) 

"In all events we should be open-minded on alfalfa — not like 
some who will stare a beautiful alfalfa field square in the face and 
still say 'It ain't adapted round here.' Nor should we be like some 




^^<- 



»-<# 



.^. 



Fig. 4. Comfalfa Farms, Waukesha, Wisconsin 
grow over 200 acres of alfalfa. 



of these city farmers who hear all about the great merits of the crop 
and want to put their whole farm into alfalfa. One is just as bad 
as the other. 

"We have got to be fair about it both in boosting and in knocking it. 
It has its objections and its big advantages. It's going to come, 
gentlemen, but that's up to you. Down in my own section not 
more than ten years ago everybody was talking against silos. There 
were all kinds of stories going round about silage eating out the cows' 
insides and making their teeth fall out and their ribs cave in. In 
spite of this the silo has come. I look on alfalfa the same way. It's 
going to come, boys. " 

At this moment the train arrived. I met the group of men on 
the platform. 

"Gentlemen," said I, "you have covered this alfalfa proposition 
so well in your discussion that I'll know exactly what to say this 
afternoon. Do you know that there are only 980 acres of alfalfa 
in this entire county against 70,000 acres of timothy? 1 don't be- 
lieve it will hurt some of us to get inoculated a bit. That's what I 
am here for." 



Arguments For and Against Alfalfa 



eEORGE FITCH once wrote that "alfalfa is the greatest known 
breakfast food for cattle . . . and possesses a flavor that 
makes the most blase cow brighten up and pass her plate for 
more" George Fitch has not been the only one to proclaim the 
merits of alfalfa. Bankers, lawyers, doctors, merchants, manu- 
facturers, authors, professors, governors, agriculturists, and some 
farmers, have climbed on the band wagon to join the chorus of 
praises of alfalfa. 

If it is worthy of all this approbation it is fair to ask why it is not 
more generally grown on livestock farms, especially in the Middle- 
Western and Eastern States. If its popularity is just a fad, what 
justification is there for all the numerous alfalfa campaigns, tours, 
demonstrations, associations, and never-ending alfalfa articles in the 
agricultural press? That there are two sides to alfalfa is indis- 
putable. It has its enthusiastic friends and enemies. In many 
places it is like a prophet in his own country, without honor. In 
other places it is the leader among forage crops. 

Alfalfa — Our Best Hay Crop 

All the good things'about alfalfa may well be summed up as fol- 
lows: Where it can be grown successfully it excels all other hay 
crops in yield p er acre, feeding value, drought resistance, soil en- 
richment and weed eradication. This covers the field of alfalfa 
enthusiasm. I have elaborated on these very points at farmers* 
meetings. 

Not long ago 1 was asked to say a good wcrd for alfalfa at a large 
farmers' picnic in Illinois. They listened to me; they even applauded 
very energetically after I was through. But after the meeting a 
half dozen farmers gathered round and said: 

Objections 

"We have grown alfalfa. It may be all you say in some places, 
but not so on our farms. Our soil isn't right for it. It costs us too 
much to get it started, and then it doesn't last. It winter-kills and 
blue-grass and weeds come in. It brings too much work. Help is 
scarce. It would keep us haying all summer, leaving no time to 
cultivate the corn or potatoes, particularly in June when they need 
it most badly. It doesn't fit into a short rotation, as clover does, 
and it is mighty hard plowing alfalfa stubble. There are so many 
failures in growing alfalfa round here, and so much time, effort and 
money have been wasted in trying to get alfalfa started, that we 
believe we would be better off to let it alone and stick to our old 
friend clover." 

That is the other side of alfalfa. What some people think is con- 
servatism on the part of farmers may often be good common sense. 
Is it good common sense to get into the alfalfa business? We shall 
see. 



Crops That Work Hardest for Us 

This is a day and age of upward-soaring prices for land and labor. 
It is becoming necessary for livestock farmers to grow chiefly those 
crop s that wo rk h ardest for them — those crops that produce the 
most and bring the greatest net returns for the labor and effort ap- 
plied. In the Corn Belt and the Eastern States there are two crops 
which stand foremost in the production of feed per acre for live- 
stock — corn and alfalfa: corn for silage; alfalfa for hay. They are 
two crops which, if grown successfully, make a combination on any 
farm that for feed production, milk production, or meat production 
cannot be beaten. 



DIGESTIBLE FEED 



PER 



alfalf; 



Silage 




Fig. 5. Timothy, Our Poorest Feed Producing Crop. 

Upper figures are average yields. Where they do not apply substitute 
yields obtainable under your conditions. Central figures give per cent di- 
gestibility and lower figures, the total digestilile nutrients per acre. 

The yields of almost any crop for livestock are best figured in 
terms of the quality of feed and total yield of digestible nutrients 
per acre. An acre of alfalfa is capable of producing three tim^s as 
much actual feed as an average acre of timothy. 

Timothy — the Poorest Feed Producer 

Yes, 1 know that those of us who are timothy growers have argu- 



merits in defense of this much-abused crop. We say it is easy to 
get a catch of timothy; that it seldom winter-kills; that it lasts for 
several years; that the hay is easy to cut and cure; that the harvest 
of timothy for hay or seed comes at a time when it does not compete 
seriously with other farm work. 

I But in the final analysis it still remains that timothy produces 
the least amount of feed and the poorest quality of feed for cattle 
when compared with clover or alfalfa. Can we afford at this crit- 
ical period to expend our valuable time — our high-priced labor on a 
crop that produces so little — that gives such minor returns as does 



TIMOTHY 



ALFALFA 




Fig. 6. Alfalfa vs. Timothy. 

This illustration shows (i) the deeper and far superior root feeding system 
of alfalfa (2) the nitrogen supplying nodule growths on alfalfa roots (3) the 
length of the new stem sprouts growing at the base of the plant, when alfalfa 
is in full bloom and past the proper cutting stage. 

timothy? Of course there are conditions where timothy is more 
advantageous than alfalfa but on the $2C0 lands of our livestock 
farmers it will continue and must continue to give way in importance 



10 



and area to those much sup2rior feed-producing crops, alfalfa, clover 
and corn. 

Roots That Resist Drouglil 

Lecturers on alfalfa spend half their time on alfalfa roots, which 
seem to grow deeper and deeper. Some enthusiasts are not satisfied 
until they have them reaching clear through to China and involving 
us in international difficulties! Of course, this could occur only 
with very old fields! 




Fig. 7. Alfalfa Enriches the Soil. 

Tall corn, average growth on alfalfa sod. Short corn, average growth 
on timothy sod. Both the timothy and alfalfa sods of this field were three 
years old, plowed and planted to corn at the same time and in the same way. 
Photo taken in July. 

But the feeding system of the alfalfa plant is wonderful. Why 
is it that alfalfa grows so fast — often an inch a day? Why is it that 
alfalfa produces three crops a season and in the long-seasoned climate 
of the Southwest five or six crops? i 

It is because the plant is equipped with a root system equaled by 
no other crop. 1 have seen plants in an alfalfa field in its second 
year with roots that averaged four feet long. Plants in same field 
when three years old had a root growth of more than seven feet. It 
is claimed that out West roots have attained depths of more than 
fifty feet, but the subsoil was loose. 

II 



With such an equipment, one can readily understand why alfalfa 
resists drought and heat; that when the corn is stunted and the 
pastures are parched and brown, about the only crop that maintains 
its vivid green to brighten the landscape and cheer the farmer is 
alfalfa. 

Soil Builders 

These roots not only give alfalfa a strong constitution and great 
growing power, but they leave a permanent and lasting benefit to 
the farmer in the way of a more fertile soil. When an alfalfa field 

is plowed the roots themselves decay and make the best kind of 
humus-building manure. (See Fig. 13.) 

There is another way and a more important manner in which 
alfalfa builds up the soil and makes it richer and more productive — 
that is through its nitrogen-gathering bacteria. Go into a success- 
ful alfalfa field in June and dig up some plants. Carefully break 
away the soil from the finer roots and observe on them the small 
swellings or nodules. We all know, or should know, that these 




Fig. 8 This was a "One Time" Fertile Soil. 

What timothy growing and soil robbing will finally lead to. 

nodules are the homes of millions of bacteria that use up the ni- 
trogen gas of the air and convert it into a liquid form of nitrogen 
which is an actual fertilizer for the plant. (See Fig. 28. J 

Alfalfa — A Soil Fertilizer Faetory 

An alfalfa field is a marvelous fertilizer factory, each acre capable 
of manufacturing annually 160 pounds of raw nitrogen into an avail- 
able form of plant food. Alfalfa supplies its own nitrogen require- 
ments. When the manure from alfalfa hay is returned to the soil 
that produced it vast stores of nitrogen accumulate and result in 
bigger and better crops of corn, potatoes or tobacco, which may 
follow after the alfalfa field has been plowed. Clover is also a valu- 
able soil enricher, but it does not add so much nitrogen or so much 
humus-forming material in the way of root growth and stubble as 
alfalfa. 

12 



Destroys Canada Thisth-s 

Canada thistles have long been a dreaded enemy of the farmer 
in the Middle West. In fact, they are so persistent in their peren- 
nial growth that many fields are rendered unprofitable because of 
the abundance of this weed. 

One way to get rid of them is to wage a bitter and unrelenting 
warfare against them with the plow and spring-tooth harrow for 
one entire summer. Like any warfare, this is costly. Not only 
does it require much labor, but the use of the field is lost for one 
year. 

Let Alfalfa Fight for Yoii 

Why not let alfalfa do the fighting for you? Alfalfa is a peace- 
loving plant, but it is the best weed scrapper of all the forage crops 
that are grown on the average farm. Just give it a good supply of 
ammunition in the form of lime, inoculation, drainage and a care- 
fully prepared seed bed, and it will wipe out the worst army of Canada 
thistles that has ever taken possession of a field. 

A few years ago the Cornfalfa Farms, in Waukesha County, Wis- 
consin, had a fifteen-acre field of oats. Canada thistles were so 
thick that it was useless to harvest the grain. It was cut with a 
mower and burned. 

The field was plowed twice that fall and again the following spring 
to keep the thistles under control. The soil was limed, inoculated 
and disked several times. Early in July alfalfa was seeded at the 
rate of twenty-five pounds to the acre. That fall there was a good 
growth of both alfalfa and weeds. 

The first cutting was made early in June of the next year. The 
alfalfa was far ahead, but the thistles were quite abundant. The second 
crop had less of the thistles and the third crop still less. The 
alfalfa outgrew its competitor. I was on this fifteen-acre field the 
third year after it had been seeded, and the only thistles we could 
find were in a few patches round the edge of the field and on one or 
two low spots where the alfalfa had killed out. 

A Weed Fighter 

Our common weeds — in fact, practically all weeds except quack 
grass — are held in subjugation by alfalfa. Its growth is so dense, 
so rapid and so overmastering that with the frequent cuttings the 
weeds have little opportunity to establish themselves. 

This is a benefit that cannot be ascribed to any other hay crop. 
It is true that a timothy sod or a good stand of clover will in a measure 
subdue weeds, but neither crop can be compared with alfalfa for 
effectual weed eradication. Clover does not last long enough, and 
timothy does not grow fast enough. 

No Criticisms on Alfalfa for Feed 

The most pessimistic critic has faith in alfalfa hay as a feed for 
cattle, hogs and sheep. There are no complaints in regard to its 
feeding value. It has a unanimous vote of approval. It is high 
in protein — that valuable and high-priced constituent of any feed- 
stuff, which builds up the lean-meat tissues, the bones, and the 
cheese-producing part of the milk. 

13 



The Wisconsin Experiment Station finds that one acre of alfalfa 
will produce as much protein as three acres of clover or nine acres 
of timothy. Alfalfa is a concentrated hay feed — equal to bran for 
dairy cows. It takes the place of costly feed products. It means 
home-grown protein. It reduces the feed bill. It is relished by all 
farm animals. 

Not Always the Best 

What more could one expect of any farm crop^ And yet there 
are good, practical, money-making farmers who pay no attention 
to the popular slogan, "Alfalfa on every farm." Not on every farm 
can alfalfa be successfully grown. When I say successfully grown 
I mean profitably grown, because you can grow alfalfa anywhere 
in the United States if you have enough money to make conditions 
right for it. 

But take, for example, the northern parts of Wisconsin, Minne- 
sota and Michigan, where much of the land is newly cleared and 



M 




Fig. 9. "Lest We Forget" 
Our Old Friend Red Clover 

Where clover grows like a weed and alfalfa is difficult and costly 
to establish, it should not be too strongly emphasized. 

nearly all of it grows clover like a weed, though much of it is too 
acid to grow alfalfa readily. That alfalfa can be grown there by the 
use of lime has been demonstrated by the presence of many excellent 
fields, but with clover so abundant, so luxuriant and so certain and 
easily established, without the trouble and cost of liming or inocu- 
lating, do you blame the farmer for being conservative in his views 
on alfalfa •> Do you blame him for being slow to take a chance on a 
new crop that is exacting in all its requirements, especially for lime 
and inoculation and a carefully prepared seed bed? 



14 



Where Clover May be Better than Alfalfa 

Furthermore, clover seeds abundantly in the North and, with the 
second crop for seed, the farmer has an important source of cash 
income from his clover field. Alfalfa does not produce successful 
yields of seed in the humid areas. In general, alfalfa-seed pro- 
duction is profitable only in the more arid sections of the West. 
So where clover grows abundantly, and bounteous yields of both 
hay and seed are easily and cheaply obtained, alfalfa should not be 
too much emphasized, especially if its establishment is difficult, 
costly and uncertain. 

Where Alfalfa Beats Clover 

In many of the older sections of the Middle West and in the Eastern 
States, clover production has become a problem. It does not grow 



SILAGE PAYS 

644 FARMS WITH SILOS MADE AN 
AVE.NET PROFIT PER FARM OF -877. 

^ e^ ^ ih 4b ^ € 9C 



186 FARMS WITHOUT SILOS MADE AN 
AYE, NET PROFIT PEP FARM OF *534. 




Fig. 10. Silos Save Feed and Money Too. 

Wisconsin has over 60,000 and is building more and more every year. 

as it did years ago when the land was new. It is hard to get a stand. 
Some say the soil is "clover sick," which may mean almost anything, 
but nearly always does mean a lack of lime. 

When liming is necessary for clover, alfalfa may prove to be the 
more profitable crop, for with lime alfalfa is generally no more diffl- 



15 



cult to establish than clover and the yields of actual feed to'the acre 
are far superior. I do not wish to discredit the value of clover. It 
will always have a place on our livestock farms because it fits so well 
in our short rotations, but its prominence as a general forage crop 
is giving way to alfalfa, especially where clover fails to give the re- 
turns and yields it did years ago. 



ALFALFA PAYS 

377 FARMS GROWING ALFALFA 
MADE AN AVERAGE NET PROFIT 
PER FARM OF 1200.00 



511 FARMS WITH NO ALFALFA 
MADE AN AVERAGE NET PROFIT 
PER FARM OF ^728.00 




Fig. II. Average results obtained on 888 Wisconsin farms 
where farm accounts are kept. 

We Need More Alfalfa 

Government statistics, (1910,) illustrate the possibilities of extend- 
ing the alfalfa acreage of the East and the Middle West. Acco ding 
to their figures the New England States were growing 500 times as 
many acres of pure timothy as of alfalfa; New York, Pennsylvania 
and New Jersey had fifty times as much timothy as alfalfa; the 
North Central States sixty-eight times as much acreage of timothy 
as of alfalfa. 



Alfalfa Prejudice 

It would seem that there is still much room 
spite of all the good work that has been done. 



tor mo e 



16 




Fig. 12. Live Stock and Legumes, the Basis of Permanent Agriculture. 

Grow more alfalfa to keep more and better live stock. 




Fig. 13. Plowing under the third crop of alfalfa for com is 
a revolution to the soil. 



17 




Fig. 14. Late Fall Cutting Weakens Alfalfa. 

The vigor and rapidity of spring growth is seriously impaired following 
late fall cutting or pasturing. 

Sample l. Cut September 2, 1914. Height May 12, 1915, 22 inches. 
Sample 2. Cut September 26, 1914. Height May 12, 1915, 17 idches. 




Fig. 15. This beautiful sheaf of alfalfa was awarded a gold medal at Panama 
Pacific International Exposition. Grown and exhibited by Swartz Bros., 
Cornfalfa Farms, Waukesha, Wisconsin. 



18 



From numerous experiences, I am convinced that one of the 
greatest barriers to the onward progress of alfalfa in those sections 
where more alfalfa could be profitably grown is the unfavorable 
sentiment developed by failures. There are many such examples 
in our Middle Western and Eastern States. I have observed several 
of them and it always is the same old story: 

"It isn't adapted round here. Sam So-and-So tried ten acres of 
it and he got only seven loads off his whole patch." 

Sam's failure might be very easily explained and the remedy 
given, but it makes no diffierence — Sam's failure is the prmciple 
topic of alfalfa conversation. It has molded the sentiment of that 
community in regard to alfalfa and will retard the general growth 
of^the crop in that section for years. 




Ex. Gov. W. D. Hoard Prof. R. A. Moore 

Fig. 1 6. Pioneers, Who Made Alfalfa, A Wisconsin Crop. 

These men blazed the trail and made the way for the 
"Queen of Forage Plants" in Wisconsin. 

Demonstrations, institutes, agricultural schools, and state alfalfa- 
growers' organizations must break down prejudice where prejudice 
is not founded upon solid facts. 

Every state has its alfalfa problems, but everywhere these prob- 
lems are being solved. In some sections alfalfa may not be profit- 
able, but in most places it would be a big paymg crop if alfalfa 
growing was understood as well as corn growing or timothy grow- 
ing. Too often alfalfa is a neglected crop because of a lack of 
confidence necessary to seed it right and to use the extra effort and 
money necessary to get a good stand the first time. 

19 



What Alfalfa Needs Most— Lime 

Use Lime on Sour Soils to Prevent Failure 



^y^HEN a man fails with alfalfa it is but natural for him to re- 
f I 1 lieve himself of all blame. It is human nature for him to say: 
"Alfalfa is not adapted round here. It doesn't catch. It 
doesn't produce. Lots of money is wasted on alfalfa. It has failed 
with me and I am through with it for good." 

Yet for every alfalfa failure there is a reason. Depend upon it, 
if you fail to give alfalfa a square deal it will balk. If you don't 
know what alfalfa requires for a square deal you would better not 
try to grow it until you have found out. If it costs too much to 
give alfalfa a square deal, and if it does not repay you for your effort, 
leave it out of your crop schedule. 




Fig. 17. Mr. Jas. B. Cheesman. 
First President of the Alfalfa Order. 

True, there is lots of money wasted on alfalfa. It is the easiest 
thing in the world to have an alfalfa failure. It is being done every 
year, and thousands of dollars are thrown away annually in trying 
to grow alfalfa. Who is to blame? Is it the alfalfa or is it the man? 

See that your Soil Conditions are Right 

Alfalfa growing is like most ventures: It is the man behind the 
gun who hits the mark — not the gun alone. And if you don't be- 
ieve in inoculation; if you don't believe in testing your soil for sour- 



20 



n ess and using lime if the so il is acidj j^youdon^t^e^ the importance 
of having a well-drained, sloping jeld, don't attempt Jo gro w alf alfa. 
You 'will have^better luck with timothy— at least you will waste 
less and probably will make more money with timothy. 

Good seed, lime, inoculation, drainage and a reasonably fertile soil 
with a porous subsoil make a square deal for alfalfa. 
\ I have heard many discussions of methods of growing alfalfa. 
Everybody seems to have a different scheme. One claims it is best 
started with a nurse crop. Another says it should be planted alone 
in June. Still others cry: "Let Jack Frost do it! Seed your al- 
falfa in the early spring on frozen ground." 1 am gomg to set forth 






** *\f («>^ 



4- ^ 



Fig. i8. A Prosperous Farm. 

Fine farm homes, big bams and herds of pure bred livestock follow 
the pathway of alfalfa's growth in Wisconsin. 

in this article one general principle in growing alfalfa anywhere, 
together with a few necessary details. The details are the methods. 
The important principle is: 

See that youi^o il conditions are right! 

Limestone Maps the Alfalfa Area 

Make your soil conditions right and you will have success. I 
don't care what method you use provided it comes within the scope 
of reasonable farm practice. Money is squandered in trying to 
grow alfalfa on soil that is not naturally alfalfa soil, without liming, 
inoculating and supplying the crop with its natural requirements. 

When I hear a talk on growing alfalfa in the Middle West or the 
East I applaud most enthusiastically if the speaker spends three- 
quarters of his time on lime, inoculation and good drainage, and 
the rest of the time on methods. 

After considerable experience and travel I have come to believe 
that the greatest cultural factor in growing alfalfa in those sections 
where it is not a general crop is the use of lime. Alfalfa is a lime- 
loving plant— more so than any other farm crop. Four tons of al- 
falfa remove twenty times as much calcium— lime— from the soil 
as the straw and grain of a thirty -bushel wheat crop. A ton of al- 
falfa hay contains nearly a hundred pounds of lime! 

Limestone has mapped the great alfalfa areas of the United btates. 
It has figured most prominently in the historical development and 
growth of the crop in this country. Alfalfa was first introduced 



21 



into California in 1854. Since then and from there it has spread 
with amazing rapidity all through the Western States. Why> Be- 
cause lime is most abundant in those soils. 

The Oldest Alfalfa Section in the U. S. 

More than a hundred and fifty years ago the colonists tried to 
grow alfalfa in the Eastern States. It never succeeded. The soil 
was sour. ^They did not know^about liming at that time. The 




Fig. 19. 



The blue litmus paper turns pink when placed in contact 
with acid soil. 



only place in the East where alfalfa was a success in the early days 
was Syracuse, New York. Records show that the crop has been 
grown there successfully for more than a hundred years. Why? 
Because it is in the heart of a limestone-soil area. 

Alfalfa Easy to Grow with Limed Soil 

\-^. Some farmers grow alfalfa successfully with no more effort than 
is necessary for timothy. They happen to have natural alfalfa soil — 
meaning soil containing a goodly supply of limestone carbonates and 
having good drainage. 

AH our soils contain lime. They must have lime to support plant 
growth. But many soils cannot provide a sufficient amount of this 
necessary plant food for such a lime-hungry plant as alfalfa. Lime 
on some soils will act as an actual fertilizer for alfalfa, but on most 
soils it serves principally as the great neutralizer of those soil acids 
which make the land sour and the alfalfa yellow and sickly. 

Rich Land may be too Sour to Grow Best Alfalfa 

I have met many farmers who have said: "My land isn't sour — 
why, it's all upland. It grows sweet grass, like red top and timothy. 
It grows good corn and potatoes. It's rich land — worth $150 an 
acre. It's not marsh land. Haven't any sour slough grass growing 
on the farm!" (See Fig. 26.) 

They forget that corn, oats, potatoes, red top and alsike clover 
will produce well on a soil much too sour to 'grow a crop of alfalfa 
successfully. And it is often true that muck soils which grow the 

22 



so-called sour grasses are not acid. They may be just the opposite— 
especially when they are surrounded by limestone hills whence lime 
is carried in the natural waters into the marsh. 

Is Yolir Soil Sour? 

Soils are sour when they lack sufficient limestone carbonates to 
counteract or neutralize acids that may occur in both the poorest 
and the richest of soils. Many of our farms which grow big crops 
of corn and potatoes need lime to grow alfalfa. 

I do not wish to say all soils need lime. That is not true. Very 
rich soils will sometimes grow alfalfa even though they are quite acid. 
But'^so many soils need lime that all should be tested for sourness 




Fig. 20. It Tells How Much Lime the Soil Needs. 

Truog's test not only determines the acidity of the soil but gives 
the amount of lime required to grow alfalfa successfully. 

or acidity before attempts at alfalfa growing are made. These tests 
are simple. They will save thousands of dollars that are annually 
wasted in trying to grow alfalfa on soils too sour for a healthy growth 
of this crop. 

The Litmus Test 

Not long ago a grower of alfalfa told me: "The first time I tried 
testing my soils with blue litmus paper I did it on the sly 1 didn t 
want anyone to know about it, because I really didn t think there 
was much to it. I bought a dime's worth. Just for my own satis- 
faction I tried it out with some vinegar and it did turn right red. 

"Then I went up into one field where I never could get alfalfa 
started. It had rained the day before, so the soil was moist. I 
made a slit in the ground with my knife, put a strip of the litnius in, 
and closed the dirt about it. 1 left it there for five minutes and then 
removed the dirt. Well, sir, that paper had turned to a sort of mot- 
tled pink. That meant the soil was sour. 1 tried it in three or four 
places by taking handfuls of dirt and making them into balls with 
the litmus in the center, and they all did the same thing. 

"1 wes just curious enough to haul out three loads of waste air- 
slaked lime that I got from our dealer and put it on one acre. 1 he 
next year 1 inoculated and seeded down to alfalfa and got an exce - 
lent stand The litmus test may not be absolutely reliable for all 
soils, but it's a mighty close indicator of soil acids. 

23 



Truog's Test Best 

"I've been reading about the Truog Soil Acidity Test. They say 
it's a httle more compUcated, but it's better than the htmus because 
it tells how acid the soil is and gives one a better idea of the amount 
of lime to use. I've been sending samples of my soil to the experi- 
ment station to be tested for acidity. It gives me a little more con- 
fidence in spending money for lime. 

"Do you know, it seems mighty queer that this soil about here 
should be sour. This is a limestone country and a good many round 
here don't need to buy lime. But it pays me to use two tons to the 
acre, though nearly all my farm is underlaid with fine gravelly lime- 
stone subsoil. The surface is sour. The experts say that rain, 
with the aid of years of cultivation, has leached the lime out of the 
top eight inches. This, together with the lime removed in crops 
taken off the land has seriously reduced the supply. My experience 
has really shown that. 

"I found that the first year after I had seeded alfalfa on my soil, 
when 1 didn't use lime the alfalfa never grew well. It was thick 
enough, but it always looked yellowish and I never got a very good 
first or second crop. 

The next year it would make a surprisingly healthy green and 
rapid growth. 

Limestone Soils May Need Lime 

"It gradually dawned upon me that the improvement was due to 
the fact that the roots in the early life of the crop were drawing their 
nutriment from the surface soil, in which lime was lacking. Later, 
when the roots were more widely established in the subsoil, the 
plants could get all the lime they wanted and they made thrifty 
growth. I know of a good many farmers who say that their stands 
and yields of alfalfa improve with age for the first two or three years. 
Others say just the opposite. I believe the lime content of the sub- 
soil has something to do with it." 

This is undoubtedly true. If the surface soil is sour and the sub- 
soil has abundant lime alfalfa will improve rapidly as the roots be- 
come established. If both surface soil and subsoil are sour the al- 
falfa will rapidly deteriorate with age or will fail at the outset. The 
surface soil may be neutral and the subsoil sour if the land has been 
cropped heavily, taking much of the lime out of the subsoil and put- 
ting it into the surface soil as the manure is returned. Such a con- 
dition does not prevent successful alfalfa production. I have ob- 
served many excellent fields growing under these very conditions. 

The principal point to consider is to have the surface eight inches 
or more well supplied with lime. It is here that the alfalfa bacteria 
and the alfalfa roots are most abundant and active, and it is here 
that they need lime to make conditions favorable. 

The Kind to Buy 

What kind of lime shall be used? When is the best time to apply 
it? How shall it be done? These are very common inquiries. 

Ground limestone, marl, air-slaked lime, lime refuse from sugar- 
beet factories or lime kilns, and fresh lime are all good, if bought 
right and used right. Generally freight is the most costly item in 
buying agricultural lime. Particularly because of this reason, it is 

24 



to the best interest of the Hme buyer to look to the moisture content 
of the product — especially in the case of the so-called waste limes, 
which are by-products of factories and are often exposed to rain. 

Find out Moisture Content of Waste Lime 

1 bought a carload of lime refuse from a sugar-beet factory, paying 
less than a dollar a ton. The freight was nearly two dollars a ton. 
It was excellent lime. 1 thought it was cheap. It looked dry, but 
was not dusty — in fact, it felt just a little damp when handled. I 
had it analyzed. 1 could hardly believe it when told that it was 
pure lime carbonate but contained forty per cent moisture! It was 
very expensive lime when you consider that in a twenty-ton car 
eight tons were water, on which 1 had paid sixteen dollars freight. 

Ground Limestone Most Commonly Used 

Ground limestone rock may come in several grades of fineness — • 
the best grade and highest-priced grade being that ground to the 




Fig. 21. A Portable Lime Grinder in Action. 

Lime rock which analyzes above 90 per cent carbonates and is easily 
quarried may be cooperatively ground with portable grinders. 

fineness of dust. This latter quality gives the quickest returns, 
and less needs to be applied. When freight rates are an important 
item and long hauls are necessary it is best to buy the highest grade 
because of the smaller amount needed. 

A larger amount of coarse ground limestone must be used, but 
if it can be laid down on the farm at low cost, both for the product 
and for transportation, it will prove satisfactory and economical if 
not too coarse. 

Use Lump Lime with Car«' 

Fresh lump lime may be the cheapest to use, especially with 
long hauls from the station and high freight costs. Fresh lime is 
lime in a concentrated form. One ton of it is equal to two tons of 
the best ground limestone or air-slaked lime. It is always free of 
excess moisture. But it is caustic. It burns. If applied directly 
to the soil it may burn out the humus and injure the soil fertility. It 
should be used with care, especially when soils are lacking in humus 
or organic matter. It is unpleasant to handle. 

25 



This difficulty can be obviated by slaking the quicklime to a 
powder before applying. Sometimes this is accomplished by dis- 
tributing lump lime in piles of about fifty pounds each every two 
rods on the plowed field. 

This gives an application of about one ton to the acre, which will 
be equivalent in its effect to two tons of the finest ground limestone. 

To each pile is added about three gallons of water and it is then 
covered with soil and allowed to remain a few weeks, until the lime 
has become well slaked. It can then be spread uniformly over the 
soil with a shovel. 

Lime — A Business Proposition 

The kind of lime used is principally a business proposition. Al- 
most any form of lime will neutralize soil acids if applied in a large 
amount. But it is a matter of judgment to get your soil sweetened 
for alfalfa at the lowest cost. 

The amount of lime required depends upon the degree of soil 
acidity. The Truog Soil Acidity Tester determines this accurately 
for all practical purposes. The litmus test does so to a certain ex- 
tent. If the paper turns a distinct pink rapidly the soil is generally 
very sour and will require from two to four tons of the best grade of 
ground limestone, marl or air-slaked lime, or one to two tons of 
fresh lump lime. If coarse ground limestone is used three to six 
tons may be necessary. In all events it is always better to apply 
too much than too little. 

At Least Tmo Tons to the Aere 

Not long ago I saw a thick stand of alfalfa that was sickly and yellow. 
It did not grow. The soil had been limed and inoculated. One and 
a half tons of ground limestone had been put on each acre the fall 
before the alfalfa was seeded. We tested the soil. It was still sour. 

I asked the farmer what grade of limestone he used. 
I have a little pile of it left over here, ' ' he replied. " I t's ra ther coarse. ' ' 

Yes, it was coarse. A good deal of it was larger than the end of 
your finger. He should have used at least four tons of this grade 
of limestone The increased yield would have paid the extra cost. 

You cannot apply too much lime for alfalfa. Twenty tons to the 
acre would do no harm, but of course dollars and cents will limit the 
application to about the amount necessary for the neutralization of 
the soil acids that prevent the proper development of the alfalfa. 

Do not be Stingy with Lime 

I do not believe it ever pays to be stingy with lime. Two tons of 
the best ground limestone, or the equivalent thereof in other forms 
of lime, is none too much for any soil that is sour. The soil may 
require only one ton of lime at the time of application, but the extra 
ton will make the effect last over a greater number of years and will 
insure vigorous alfalfa. 

When to Apply Lime 

On the heavier soils lime is best applied in the fall. On sandy 
soils, which leach rapidly, liming in the spring is best. It is always 
well to give the lime a month or more time to act on the soil and 
correct some of the acidity before the alfalfa is planted. This is 
not always necessary, but it is advisable. 

26 



How to Apply Lime 

Never plow lime under. Put it on the surface soil and harrow it 
in, so as to incorporate it well with the soil. 

On large areas a fertilizer drill can be used in distributing any fine 
form of lime. Special lime distributors are used with both coarse 
and fine lime, but with small areas the farmer is hardly justified in 
buying a special lime drill. He can spread it with a shovel. 








Fig. 22. Spreading Lime with a Distributer. 

This is not a pleasant job, even on a quiet day. It may neces- 
sitate the use of goggles to protect the eyes, and a wet cloth over 
the nose. 

Manure Spreader Works Fine 

A manure spreader will eliminate the dust difficulty. Cover the 
apron with a few inches of fine manure. If you wish to apply three 
tons of lime to the acre distribute 1 500 pounds evenly over the sur- 
face of the manure. Set your spreader at four loads to the acre — 
usually the lowest gear. At this rate you will be applying 6000 
pounds or three tons of lime on your soil. With this standard the 
amount applied can be easily regulated. (See Fig. 27.) 

Lime is often spread from a wagon as fast as it is hauled from the 
car. This saves rehandling. 

To gauge your applications, three shovelfuls to a square rod will make 
two tons to the acre, provided the shovel will hold eight pounds of lime. 

Apply Lime as Top Dressing only with Loose Open Soils 

Suppose you have alfalfa on a sour soil and it fails to produce 
well. Is it practicable to apply lime directly to a growing alfalfa field> 

Under no circumstances should quicklime or fresh lime be used 
for this purpose, for the caustic properties of such lime are very apt 
to kill the alfalfa plants. Finely divided ground limestone, marl 
or air-slaked lime may be used. They will prove helpful, especially 
on loose, open sandy soils where the lime will work its way down 
into the soil where it is needed. 

It should be applied early in the spring, before the frost is out of 
the ground. Top dressing heavy soils with lime will not be nearly 
so efiFective, and often satisfactory results are not obtained. Lime 
applied to a plowed field before seeding is always more profitable 
than lime applied after seeding. 



27 



Giving Alfalfa a Square Deal 

Inoculation More Important than Manure 



IF A BEGINNER in growing alfalfa were to ask me "Which 
shall I do, inoculate my field with one load of alfalfa or sweet- 
clover soil or apply ten loads of manure to the acre?" 1 should 
tell him to do both. If he could not do both 1 should advise him to 
apply one load of soil. 

This is not written to discredit the value of manure. It is writ- 
ten to assert that one load of necessary inoculation soil is worth 
more in getting a stand of alfalfa than ten loads of manure are worth. 
This has been shown by experiment as well as by farm experience. 
Not long ago I received the following letter from a Wisconsin be- 
ginner in alfalfa culture: 

A Wisconsin Farmer's Experience 

"1 am in sore trouble. The ten acres of alfalfa sowed last July 
made a very heavy growth last fall, going into winter quarters with 
from one foot to sixteen inches covering. It came through fine. 
It is now from four to twelve inches high and commencing to look 
yellow and rusty. Upon investigation I can find no nodules on the 
roots. 1 limed heavily with air-slaked lime but did not inoculate. 

"In preparing the land we plowed under ten tons to the acre of 
mixed stable manure and cultivated the land until July twenty- 
eighth, when the seed was sown. Much of the alfalfa is now turn- 
ing yellow before getting as tall as last fall's growth was, as indi- 
cated by the dry stalks now standing above the green, which causes 
me to think that last year's growth must have exhausted the nitro- 
gen and now, not having nodules on the roots, the plants are unable 
to gather any from the air and are starving." (See Fig. 29.) 

This man inoculated his yellow and sickly alfalfa shortly after the 
first crop was cut. He spread the inoculation soil with a manure 
spreader in strips the width of the spreader, but due to a lack of 
sufficient soil he left a space of eight or ten feet uninoculated every 
trip he made across the field. He then dragged the field at right 
angles to the direction in which the inoculated strips ran, so as to 
spread the inoculated dirt as much as possible. What was the 
result? 

Marvelous Results 

Late that summer his field looked like the Star-Spangled Banner, 
with stripes not red and white, but green and yellow and tall and 
short. The cross harrowing failed to distribute the inoculation dirt 
thoroughly, and in consequence the uninoculated strips remained 
sickly and yellow, while those strips that received inoculation be- 
came healthy and vigorous. This is but one of many illustrations 
I could cite on the value and importance of inoculation. 

28 



In Some Places Inoculation not Necessary 

"But how is it that over in our country where we have never in- 
oculated we have been growing alfalfa for years with good success?' 
asked a farmer of one of the Lake Shore counties of Wisconsin. 

That was a good question. And what he says is true. Fields 
along roadsides where sweet clover grows abundantly are inocu- 
lated by the bacteria-laden dust that blows over them. Further 
than that, soils rich in lime, even far distant from any such a source 
of inoculation as sweet clover, will produce successful crops of alfalfa 
if in addition to their lime content they abound in fertility, particu- 
larly organic matter. In such cases alfalfa draws on the soil for its 
nitrogen instead of getting it from the air, until it becomes self-inoc- 
ulated. ^ . 

But no doubt such fields would give larger yields of alfalfal[hay 
the first two or three years if the bacteria were supplied inUarge 
enough numbers by proper inoculation to effect an immediate^de- 




Fig. 23. Inoculation Increases the Yield and May Prevent Failure. 

velopment of nodules on the roots. Often in such cases, especially 
on poor soils, the second and third crops grow poorly, due to a lack 
of sufficient nitrogen for the rapid growth of the alfalfa. Yes, there 
are those who grow alfalfa for the first time without inoculation, 
but for every success ten or more failures will be reported. 

Unseen Builders of Fertility 

Not long ago I walked out into an alfalfa field with a German 
farmer. He was enthusiastic about alfalfa, having twenty acres 
well established. "I did like you said when I wrote you three years 
ago. I hauled one load of sweet-clover dirt and spread it over one 
acre just before I seeded my alfalfa. But one corner I left without 
the dirt. That winter-killed bad. Blue grass soon came in where 
I did not inoculate. Where I spread the dirt I got a fine stand. 
Why is that?" 

With a shovel we carefully dug up some of the alfalfa roots. We 
broke away the dirt and found an abundance of nodules. They 
were the first he had ever seen. 1 then explained that those swel- 
lings were the homes of the bacteria he had introduced into his soil 
with the sweet-clover dirt and that the bacteria converted the nitro- 
gen gas of the air into a liquid form which was an actual fertilizer 
for the plants. (See Figs. 28 and 29.) 

We went over to the little strip he had left uninoculated and made 
a search for nodules. They were very hard to find. He was sur- 

29 



prised. I took advantage of his deep interest and pointed out that 
this alfalfa was not thrifty because it had to depend entirely upon 
the soil for its nitrogen and there was not a sufficient amount avail- 
able to supply the needs of such a rapid-growing crop as alfalfa. 
On the inoculated area the bacteria supplied the deficiency and the 
alfalfa was thrifty. (See Pig. 29.) 

"More people will inoculate when they know what it means," 
he declared. "Alfalfa makes the land rich and the farmer rich too!" 
Nodules on Alfalfa Roots Worth Thousands of Dollars in Building 
up Soil! 

There are many who have never seen the root nodules of alfalfa 
or of clover. They are too busy making money to have time for 
the inspection of the swellings on alfalfa or red-clover roots. Yet 
those very nodules are worth untold thousands of dollars to the 
farmers of every land in keeping up the soil fertility. Without 




Fig. 24. Sweet Clover Dirt for Inoculation. 

Along the roadside where sweet clover is growing inoculated soil 
can be obtained. 

them the country might face famine, due to a depletion of soil nitro- 
gen. Many of the worn-out and abandoned farms of the Eastern 
States would still be productive if they had been managed with 
legumes instead of with timiothy and grain alone. (See Fig. 7.) 

Ancients Knew Alfalfa Made Soil Rich 

The soil-enriching properties of leguminous crops were appre- 
ciated centuries ago. Columella, an ancient Roman writer, wrote 
not less than l£00 years ago that alfalfa "dungs the land." It 
makes the soil rich 

But it was only thirty years ago that scientists discovered why 
alfalfa improves the fertility of the soil. It was only thirty years 
ago that those minute bodies or organisms we now call bacteria were 
discovered. They have since had a most profound influence on 
agricultural practice. ^ 

Our best farmers have been employing these unseen builders of 
soil fertility ori their farms by growing legumes — alfalfa, clover, 

30 



soy beans, cowpeas and so on in proper rotation with other crops. 
They minimize the fertiUzer burden which is inevitably levied upon 
depleted soils. They keep up soil fertility, which is the basis of 
rural prosperity. 

Inoculation not Expensive 

Inoculation means simply the introduction into the soil of the 
right bacteria for alfalfa. Most soils are filled with the proper 
bacteria for clover and it is only in a few places that inoculation is 
necessary for that crop. But where alfalfa is a new crop the alfalfa 




Fig. 25. Spreading Inoculation Soil by Hand. 

Where the dirt is spread by hand the distribution is more uniform 

and 500 pounds an acre is sufficient. If spread with a 

shovel a load per acre should be used. 

germs are not present in sufficient numbers properly to assist the 
crop in its growth and development. Clover geims will not develop 
on alfalfa roots. Consequently we must inoculate with alfalfa bac- 
teria. This is not a difficult or costly process. 

Sweet Clover Assists 

Along' the roadsides of many sections a formerly much-despised 
weed but now a valued farm crop grows wild and luxuriant. It is 
the sweet-clover plant— fiist cousin of alfalfa. It, too, has bacteria 
and nodules on the roots, and they are identically the same gerrns 
that are so necessary for alfalfa. A load or ton of the surface eight 
inches of dirt taken from roadsides where sweet clover is growing 
spread over each acre of the field just before seeding the alfalfa, and 
then harrowed in, will accomplish the proper inoculation. Soil trans- 
ferred from a successful alfalfa field is likewise satisfactory. 

Inoeulalinfi Alfalfa Seetl 

The Alfalfa Order, Madison, Wis., will supply at cost price of 
about 25 cents an acre, inoculation cultures in bottles, to farmers, 
with complete directions for applying these bacterial growths to the 
alfalfa seed prior to sowing. The cultures are carefully prepared by 

31 



the Wisconsin Experiment Station. While this method is not so 
certain as spreading inoculated soil, very good results have obtained 
where these fresh cultures have been used. 

Mix Alfalfa With Timothy and Clover 

A good scheme to get the entire farm inoculated for future crops 
of alfalfa is to use a mixture of two pounds of alfalfa seed an acre 
with every grass and clover seeding. 

The scattered alfalfa plants gradually develop the inoculation in 
the soil in two or more years. Inoculation is hastened if the alfalfa 
seed is first treated with a good inoculation culture or an equal weight 
of fine dried sweet-clover or alfalfa dirt. A weak solution of glue 
or molasses is used to dampen the seed slightly before the dust is 
applied. A little care must be used to avoid having the seeds stick 
together in bunches. 

Glue Method of Inoculation 

The glue method of inoculating alfalfa seed is simple, convenient 
and quite effective. The plan is to coat the seeds with inoculated 
soil — that is soil containing the proper nitrogen gathering bacteria 
for alfalfa before planting. Proceed as follows, — Dissolve two hand- 
fuls of furniture glue in a gallon of boiling water. Allow this solu- 
tion to cool. Moisten the seed (do not wet it) with dilute glue 
using about one quart of the solution for one bushel of alfalfa seed. 
Sprinkle the glue on evenly and stir the seed thoroughly so as to get 
each seed slightly moist. 

Now then we are ready to apply the inoculation soil. Go along 
the roadsides where sweet clover is growing and dig up about a gal- 
lon of dirt for each bushel of alfalfa seed. Dig this dirt near the 
sweet clover roots. If you do not have sweet clover growing in your 
section, soil from a successful alfalfa patch will, of course, serve the 
same purpose and will be equally effective. Dry this soil in the 
shade or in the barn or basement where the direct rays of the sun 
will not reach it. After it is dry pulverize it by hand into a fine 
dust. Scatter this dust over the moistened seed stirring vigorously 
so as to mix thoroughly at the rate of about one gallon of soil to one 
bushel of seed. While the alfalfa seeds may stick together some- 
what when first moistened with the glue solution, after the appli- 
cation of the dry inoculation dirt they separate readily and no diffi- 
culty will be experienced in seeding. This method of inoculation 
is especially advantageous where the supply of inoculation soil is 
shipped from a distance or otherwise limited. 

Lasts Many Years 

Inoculation is neither difficult nor expensive. As far as we know, 
a field once inoculated is always inoculated. However, where alfalfa 
is not grown for an interval of six or eight years reinoculation is 
helpful. 



32 



Getting Started With Alfalfa 

The Time, the Place and Amount to Sow for Best Results 

[O MUCH is written about growing alfalfa that we must use 
the proverbial grain of salt more or less hberally in applying 
what we read to our local farm practices. One thing sure is 
that we farmers east of the Mississippi and north of Mason and 
Dixon's line must keep our ears closed to much of the advice that 
hails from the Far Southwest. 

Such information as five pounds of seed being sufficient for one 
acre may apply to a semiarid country, Hke many of the alfalfa- 
growing sections of the West, but not to those humid areas where 
the annual precipitation is round thirty inches. Likewise with late 
fall seeding, which is probably most advantageous where mild fall 
and winter climatic conditions obtain, but not where winter temper- 
atures begin in November. (See Fig. 33.) 

Beware of Southwestern Advice 

"But," our Western friends argue, "is it not true that five pounds 
of alfalfa seed distributed over one acre will give you twenty-five 
seeds for each square foot of surface? If twenty of those produce 
alfalfa plants you will have a good thick stand. Why use twenty 
pounds of seed to the acre?" 

What they say is all very true, but there are some "ifs" to be con- 
sidered that distinguish between theory and practice in the humid 
states. If we had a perfect seed bed — a soil abundantly supplied 
with lime and organic matter, well drained, thoroughly inoculated 
and weed-free; if the alfalfa seeds germinated 100 per cent and if 
they were distributed uniformly and all covered just deep enough — 
not too deep or too shallow — for germination; if we had neither 
drought nor excessive rain, then, to be sure, three to five pounds an 
acre would be a great sufficiency. 

Fifteen to Twenty Pounds of Seed Best for Be<iinners 

But herewith are the actual facts and figures from a co-operative 
experimental test made by 180 Wisconsin farmers, who for a period 
of three years compared ten and twenty pound rates of seeding. 
Eighty-one per cent of these practical farmers reported that blue 
grass and weeds gave much more trouble with the ten-pound rate 
and that the twenty-pound seeding gave a larger yield of finer- 
stemmed alfalfa and consequently a hay of much better quality. 

In answer to the question "Which is the best rate of seeding on 
weed-free, not acid, inoculated, and carefully prepared soil?" re- 
plies were received as follows: 

47 per cent declared for 20 pounds an acre. 
36 per cent declared for 15 pounds an acre. 
17 per cent declared for 10 pounds an acre. 

Even under excellent soil conditions the farmers' verdict is in 
favor of the fifteen and twenty pound rates. But when alfalfa was 
seeded for the first time under average farm conditions, with the 

33 



seed bed fairly well prepared, but somewhat weedy, the replies were 
decidedly for the heavy seedings: 

91 per cent declared in favor of 20 pounds an acre. 
7 per cent declared in favor of I 5 pounds an acre. 
2 per cent declared in favor of 1 pounds an acre. 

Naturally the farmer would prefer the ten-pound rate because of 
the lower seed cost, but in spite of this his judgment is for double 
the amount, especially for those beginning alfalfa growing. This 
should not convey the impression that a few extra pounds of seed 
will make up for a poDrly prepared seed bed, but it does mean that 
weeds and blue grass necessitate heavy seeding for the farmers of 
the East and Middle West. 

Less Seed Required with Good Soil Preparation 

After alfalfa has been successfully grown for a number of years 
on a farm and the soil has become thoroughly inoculated and adapted, 
ten to fifteen pounds an acre may prove sufficient. This is especially 
true when good seed of the hardy and wide-spreading strains of 
variegated alfalfa, such as Grimm, Baltic, Canadian or Cossack, is used. 

The Eight-Inch Rule 

It is not possible to formulate a rigid set of rules for growing al- 
falfa, but here is one that can always be safely followed: Alfalfa 
should have a growth of at least eight inches before winter weather 
occurs. It requires this amount of growth to withstand the rigors 
of alternate freezing and thawing. (See Fig. 45.) 

Late Summer Seeding Dangerous 

This means that the seed must be sown in the spring or early 
enough in the summer or fall to arrive at eight-inch development 
before the first alfalfa-killing frosts. August seeding may do very 
well where growing weather lasts well on into November, but it is 
very risky in such northern states as Wisconsin, Michigan and Min- 
nesota. In the northern part of these states I have known of failure 
by winter-killing of alfalfa seeded July fifteenth, while success ob- 
tained in adjacent fields seeded in June. 

Because of widely varying soil and climatic conditions it is im- 
possible to set a definite date after which it is too late to seed alfalfa 
in any given locality, but the eight-inch rule will apply most em- 
phatically where winter-killing is a problem to be contended with. 

Slow Spring Growth Follows Late Summer or Fall Seeding 

A plant with its root system well established is equipped to with- 
stand cold and freezing much better than one that has just started 
to grow. This is well illustrated by an experiment at the Wiscon- 
sin station. Seedings were made August fourth and twenty-fifth, 
September fifteenth and twenty-fifth. The following spring a re- 
markable difference in the size and vigor of growth resulted — the 
later seedings being decidedly weaker, in spite of the fact that ex- 
cellent fall growing weather occurred after each seeding and the 
winter was very mild. Under severe climatic conditions undoubt- 
edly the last three plantings would have entirely winter-killed. The 
relative root and stem growth the following May is shown in the 
table: (See Fig. 33.) 

34 




Fig. 26. Success vs. Failure. 

This field would produce in average years 75 bushels of com an acre 
but it^was too sour to grow alfalfa, until lime was applied. The presence of 
weeds and the yellow color and sickly growth of the alfalfa on the unlimed 
comer was visible for a distance of one-half mile. 




Fig. 27. Lime is conveniently distributed with a manure spreader. 



35 




Fig. 28. Fertilizer Factories on Roots of Alfalfa. 

The little white swellings or nodules on alfalfa roots are sure indications 
of proper inoculation. They are the homes of millions of alfalfa bacteria 
which gather nitrogen from the soil air and convert it into an actual growth 
producing fertilizer for the alfalfa plants. 



36 




ALFALFA 

uninoculatco 



ALFALFA 
INOCULATED 



Fig 29. Inoculation or Starvation. 

Fich i-ir c3itams pure quirt, smd'to which all the necessary elements 
for plant growth Keep mtrogen, have been added. The alfalfa baetena 
upptdbv inoculation have taken sufficient nitrogen from the a.r to produce 
TX growth of alfalfa. The alfalfa plants in the sand -enung no m^ 
oculation have starved for a want of mtrogen. Especially on sandy and 
other soils, which may lack nitrogen, inoculation is ver>' important. 



37 




Fig. 30. Convincing Evidence of the Value of Inoculation. 

Manure and lime, with inoculation, yielded 2500 lbs. alfalfa an acre. 
Manure 'and lime, with no inoculation, yielded 1180 lbs. alfalfa an acre. 




Fig. 31. Alfalfa for Hay. Corn for the E!ilo. 

Surely, with these, our banner feed producing crops, "prosperity 
follows the plow," 



38 




Fig. 32. Alfalfa, Grown in Wisconsin. 

Slogan of llic Alfalfa Order. 




Fig. 33. Effect of Late Summer Seeding in Wisconsin on Vigor of Growth 
Following Spring. (See page 34.) 



39 




Fig. 34. Haying to Beat the Weather. 

Cutting forty acres of alfalfa a day on the Cornfalfa Farms, 
Waukesha, Wisconsin. 



- -\.wu.^. 


■ 


^ 


m 




i^-^U^..,.^ 




^IP|W^,„,('',,^~./"" 








Igi^'^'^^^ 


—-m. , -M^W| 



Fjg- 35- Curing in Windrows Saves Leaves. 

Alfalfa hay is readily raked into windrows with side delivery rakes. 



40 




Fig. 36. Where soil conditions are made right alfalfa produces abundantly. 




Fig. 37. Late Fall Cutting and Pasturing Cause Winterkilling and Blue Grass 

Troubles. 
Photo taken in May 1915- 'Hie left part of this field which is so badly 
winterkilled and overran with blue grass was cut th3 previous fall (1914' on 
October 12. The alfalfa on the right was not cut after August 30. m I9U 
and came through the winter uninjured. In the northern states cuttmg or 
pasturing after the first week in September is poor practice. 



41 




Fig. 38. Turkestan Alfalfa Makes a Scant Fall Growth. 

Perhaps this is one reascn for its hardiness. 




Fig. 39. Transplanting in this test gave very peer yields of hay in compari- 
son with the broadcasted plots. 



42 



T^AT^T. oTrr.TM?r> LENGTH OF ROOTS LENGTH OF STEMS 

DATE SEEDED 1914 MAY 12, igi5 MAY 12, 1915 

Inches Inches 

August 4 20 20 

August 25 13 17 

September 15 10 13 

September 25 8 8 

Alfalfa Needs a Reasonably Fertile Soil 

Because alfalfa is a great soil enricher and can be grown on a wide 
range of soils, all the way from heavy clays to sandy loams, it is 
often tried out on the poorest and most worn-out part of the farm. 
If the soil happens to be well supplied with limestone the crop will 
do fairly well on rather poor land, but there is such a thing as a 




Fig. 4'j. Best to Choose a Sloping Field. 

Flat lands will grow alfalfa but smothering ice sheets like this may 
cause winterkilling. 

farm being too poor to grow alfalfa, it may grow red clover or 
sweet clover, but when the land becomes so deficient in organic 
matter and fertility that we say it "won't grow beans" it will not 
grow alfalfa without heavy applications of manure or fertilizer. 
On the other hand, newly cleared lands, virgin soil and grass sods 
may be very fertile and yet fail to produce good stands of alfalfa. 
Such soils need first to be subdued by cropping a number of years 
with such cultivated crops as corn or potatoes in rotation with gram 
and clover to get rid of the bluegrass. 

A Loose Sub-Soil Best 

The subsoil must be considered. If it is loose and open, affording 
good underdrainage, and is full of gravelly limestone, nothing could 
be more ideal. If it is a tight, impenetrable hardpan withm six or 
eight inches of the surface—beware. Shallower rooted crops, like 
timothy, redtop or alsike clover, will do better. 

Choose a Gentle Slope 

A gentle slope should be selected. Flat land will grow alfalfa, 
but winter-killing will be more serious. Water from rain or melting 
snow gathers on the surface, and if freezing weather follows ice 
sheets form and the alfalfa smothers out. Land in which the water 



43 




k-'" 



^^l 

»» 



Fig44i. The ccrrugated rdler breaks coarse lumps, firms the seed bed 
and leaves the surface loose. 



44 



table IS only two feet below the surface is best avoided. The old 
"alfalfa-won't-stand-wet-feet" theory holds pretty well. Other con- 
ditions being favorable, tile-drained land is satisfactory, but oc- 
casionally trouble is reported because the alfalfa roots clog the drains 
Though the danger is slight and seldom serious it_is well worthy of 
mention. 

A Firm Settled Seed Bed Necessary 

Three years ago I observed a forty-acre field of alfalfaTthat'had 
been seeded the year previous with one bushel of barley to the acre 
as a nurse crop. The land was heavily limed and manured and 
inoculated. Climatic conditions were very favorable. Yet the al- 
falfa was a miserable failure. Why? A loose seed bed. - " 

The soil was plowed just one week before the seeding of the al- 
falfa and barley. It did not have time to become firm. The capil- 
lary movement of the moisture from the subsoil was retarded and 
the alfalfa plants did not thrive. Even the barley was a poor crop 
hall plowing of the heavy soils has its many advantages for all crops 
but Its principal benefit for alfalfa is that it gives the seed bed time 
to settle and become firm enough to meet the requirements of the 
alfalfa plant. 

The forty-acre field mentioned was plowed up in the fall'and'suc- 
cessfully reseeded to alfalfa the following spring. 

Rolling a Very Desirable Practice 

Rolling is the only practice that will firm the seed bed sufficiently 
when the seeding of alfalfa immediately follows plowing. The roller 
IS best used right after the seed is sown and should be followed by a 
light harrowing to form a mulch. Harrowing is not necessary when 
corrugated rollers are used. They firm the soil but leave at the 
same time a loose surface. 

Loose Sandy Soils Need the Roller 

Particularly with open sandy lands, which because of leaching 
and blowing must often be spring plowed for alfalfa, is rolling es- 
sential. It brings on a rapid and uniform germination of the seed. 
During dry weather it keeps the surface supplied with moisture, 
which naturally moves up from below when the soil particles are in 
close contact. 

A well-settled seed bed, with a mulched surface sufficient to cover 
the seed and to prevent baking and crusting and the rapid evapor- 
ation of soil moisture, is ideal not only for alfalfa but also for all 
our grain crops with which alfalfa is so often seeded. 



45 



Getting a Good Stand of Alfalfa 

The Use of Nurse Crops and Other Methods oi Establishing a 

Good Stand 



^TT^m^RE there is a will there is a way, but there are so many 
\ I J good ways of getting alfalfa started that it is hard to say which 
^^■^^ is the best. What may be a good method for one farm would 
not apply entirely to another, but almost any method will succeed 
when there is the determination to grow alfalfa and the willingness 
to follow details. 

The great importance of lime, inoculation and a fiim seed bed has 
been previously discussed. It remains now to consider the most 
economical plans for establishing a good stand of alfalfa. In the 
West the proposition seems to be pretty well solved. Sow from 
three to fifteen pounds of seed on a firm but well-prepared seed bed, 
with or without a nurse crop in the spring or summer, and a thick 
growth is generally obtained, unless the drought is too severe or the 
insect pests are too abundant. 

For the Central and Eastern states the establishment of a field 
of alfalfa is somewhat more of a problem. At least theie is a "new- 
ness" about it that has not yet worn off, and every now and then 
somebody advocates a brand-new, "never-known-before" method 
of starting alfalfa. 

Grain Instead of Weeds for a Nurse Crop 

The most universally followed way of growing alfalfa en heavier 
soils of the humid regions is to seed with grain in the early spring 
the year following a cultivated crop, such as corn or potatoes. The 
term "nurse" crop is very deceiving. From it we infer that the al- 
falfa is protected and nursed along by the grain crop. The fact is 
that a nurse crop robs the tender alfalfa plants of moisture, plant 
food and sunlight, and checks their development, very seveiely 
on sandy soils. 

But suppose we plant the alfalfa alone in the early spring — what 
will happen? Weeds, and lots of them, come forth They will be 
far more detrimental than a grain crop, and far less profitable. The 
great advantage of the nurse crop on the heavier types of soil is 
that it controls the common weeds of the farm and produces a 
profitable crop of grain while the alfalfa is becoming established. 
And it is a decidedly convenient, economical and a reasonably cer- 
tain method of seeding any hay crop on fertile clay or loam soil. 

In the spring the grain and alfalfa are sown at the same time with 
one operation, using a grain drill or seeder having a grass-seed attach- 
ment. Winter wheat and winter rye are generally seeded so late 
in the fall that if the alfalfa is sown at the same time it will invari- 
ably winterkill. 

46 



Spring Sowing on Fall Seede«l Grains 

To avoid this danger the alfalfa should be sown separately on 
these fall-seeded grains with a wheelbarrow seeder or other suitable 
machine early the next spring before the frost is out of the ground, 
and preferably on top of the last [snow. When a loam or clay soil 
thaws out it becomes honeycombed with cracks and small crevices, 
which later close up and cover the seed. 

This is Nature's way, and it is far more effective on heavy clay or 
loam soils than harrowing or any other mechanical means of covering 
seeds sown after the soil has thawed. Alfalfa, like clover seed, is 
not injured by being seeded on snow or frozen ground, and germi- 
nation is immediate with the on-come of warm weather. Light, 
sandy soils should be seeded after thawing and a vigorous harrowing 
of the fall sown rye or wheat is necessary to cover the alfalfa seeds. 

Sow Nurse Crop Thin 

There are good and bad nurse crops. The poorest are those which 
ripen latest and remain growing on the field longest. But every 
nurse crop is bad fcr alfalfa when sown too thickly Three bushels 
of grain to the acre will spell failure for an alfalfa seeding, when one 





Fig. 42. A Thin Nurse Crop for Thick Alfalfa. 

Good stand seeded with one Poor stand scedc( 

bu. barlev an acre. 



with three 
l:)u. of oats an acre. 



bushel would have insured success. The newly sprouted alfalfa 
must have a fair chance for growth. One bushel of grain to the 
acre is just enough to produce a fairly good grain yield; at the same 
time it does not crowd the alfalfa plants, but gives them an oppor- 
tunity to get their roots well established for protection against 
drought, which may follow the grain harvest. 

Good and Bad Nvirse Crops 

Barley is one of the best of nurse crops. It ripens early. Winter 
rye and winter wheat are also good. These grains mature from one 
to three weeks earlier than oats and spring wheat and they are much 
better for seeding with alfalfa. Because of late ripening it is best, 
but not always necessary, that oats be cut for hay just after heading 
out, -unless early strains, such as the Kherson and Sixty Day, are 
used. 

The principal objection to all nurse crops is that they dry out the 
soil — especially, the late-ripening kinds — and check the develop- 



47 



ment of the tender young alfalfa plant so that an extended drought 
following the grain harvest may ruin the stand. This is a difficulty 
far more serious with sandy or light soils because they are so readily 
affected by drought. This danger is sufficient to make the nurse- 
crop way of starting alfalfa a failure with sandy soil but not gener- 
ally with the heavier clays and loams. We shall see. however, that 
it can be avioded. , 

Seeding Alfalfa Alone 

The surest but most expensive way to seed alfalfa, especially on 
sandy ground, is to put the soil through a careful weed-killing pro- 
cess of disking and harrowing at frequent intervals, and seeding in 
May or early June. If the soil is extremely weedy the cultivation 




Fig. 43. Seeding Alfalfa with Barley. 

Flat rollers should be followed with a harrow. Otherwise the smooth 
surface may bake, crust and harden. 

should be continued well on into the summer; otherwise June seed- 
ing is most satisfactory, for hea^ y soils and May or June for light 
soils, and one or two cuttings of hay may be obtained prior to Sep- 
tember first. This will in a measure make up for the profits of a 
grain crop. 

Though excessive cultivation kills weeds, stores up moisture and 
firms the seed bed, it would not be necessary if the .soil were weed- 
free, or nearly so. Clean clay or loam fields growing such well-cul- 
tivated crops as tobacco, sugar beets and potatoes can often be fall 
plowed, disked, harrowed and inoculated, and the alfalfa seeded a- 
lone on frozen ground the following spring. Two fair crops of hay, 
rarely three, may be cut in the summer, although the first is apt to 
be very weedy. 

Jack Frost Methods 

But very seldom do we find soils that are free enough of weeds 
and weed seeds to warrant this "Jack Frost" way of seeding alfalfa 
alone. I have seen it tried, and instead of cutting nice crops of al- 
falfa the first year the harvest was mostly weeds. A grain crop 
would not have crowded the alfalfa any more than the weeds did 
and surely would have been more profitable. It is best for the be- 

48 



ginner in alfalfa growing to use a standard method that has passed 
the experimental stage, and let the more experienced growers try 
their luck with Jack Frost. 

Seeding Alone — Best foi; Sandy Soils 

Though the weed-killing process is expensive, seeding alone in 
May or June, is a method of growing alfalfa that practically insures 
success, because it eliminates the drought danger that obtains with 
the nurse crop and the weed danger of seeding alone in the early 
spring. It is particularly a method to be recommended to the be- 
ginner, who would best start out in a small way with three to five 
acres. It gives him time to lime if necessary, to inoculate, and it 
makes the most ideal seed bed for alfalfa. One or two crops of 
hay may be cut prior to September first if abundant summer rains 
occur. It is the surest method on sandy soils. 

Look Out for Soil Washing 

Its greatest drawbacks are extra labor and expense and possible 
loss of the use and profit from the land the first year. It can be 
used only with fields that are not too sloping, otherwise serious wash- 
ing and gullying will occur. Hilly lands should always be seeded 
down with a nurse crop. After the farm has grown alfalfa for a 
number of years, and the fields are plowed up for corn, they can 
then be reseeded to alfalfa with gra^n in a less expensive manner. 

Seeding After Harvest of (banning Peas, Early Potatoes, etc. 

There are other ways of seeding alfalfa alone. Such crops as early 
potatoes, canning peas, oats and peas for hay, are harvested early 
in the summer. Rains generally occur after the harvest and by 
immediate seeding good stands of alfalfa are obtained. The weed 
growth at this time of the year will seldom prove to be detrimental. 
The seed bed should be prepared with the disk and harrow — not 
with the plow. Plowing would leave the seed bed too loose for 
immediate seeding unless heavy rolling was practiced. Disking is 
decidedly satisfactory and is more economical. 

Seeding After Grain Harvest Doubtful 

This same practice is seldom successful with the grain crops, which 
are harvested much later. They dry out the soil and quite gen- 
erally drought follows their harvest, which makes the preparation 
of the seed bed almost impossible either with a disk or plow. With 
late-fall growing weather, seeding after a grain crop may prove suc- 
cessful, but here again eight inches of growth prior to freezing weather 
is necessary to insure winter protection of the alfalfa. 

Seeding in Corn at Last Cultivation 

Some successes and many failures have been reported in seeding 
alfalfa in corn just before the last cultivation. The writer has tried 
this out from time to time with little success. Occasionally it works, 
and those occasions occur when the rainfall during the summer is 
abundant. Some difficulty will obtain in getting the seed distri- 
buted uniformly unless a special inter-row seeder is used. An ex- 
perienced sower can spread the seed by hand uniformly and if care 
is used the whirling seeders are satisfactory. 

49 



If the soil has not previously grown alfalfa it should be inoculated 

at corn-planting time, or the seed may be treated with a good bac- 

e before seeding. The corn is cut for silage or fodder, 

and unless the stubbles are harrowed down the following spring they 

will cause considerable trouble with the first cutting. 

Quack Grass — -Fiercest of all Farm Weeds 

Weeds are always with us and they profoundly affect all our 
methods of crop production. Canada thistles are no match for an 
established field of alfalfa when the two plants come into a hand-to- 
hand combat for possession of the soil. But not so with the fiercest 
of all farm wieds — quack grass. 

This dreaded enemy will get the best of alfalfa unless badly in- 
fested soils are freed of its aggressive growth by cultivated crops or 
summer fallow before the alfalfa is seeded. Even then a few spots 
of quack may appear throughout the field, and no matter how thick 
the alfalfa may be these spots will survive in spite of its rapid growth 
and frequent cuttings. Though we can grow good crops of alfalfa 
hay, even though the field may contain a few patches of quack grass, 
we can never hope to eradicate this weed with alfalfa as we can get 
rid of Canada thistles. 

Helpless as a New-Born Babe 

With all due credit to alfalfa as a weed fighter, it must be stated 
that during its first six months of growth it is quite as helpless as a 
new-born babe to control those too numerous common weeds of the 
farm, such as foxtail, pigweed, lamb's-quarters, and so on. While 
they menace alfalfa in its early stages they seldom cause sufficient 
injury to the stand to require any attention in the way of control 
except for those weed-killing cultural practices which are applied to 
the soil before the alfalfa is seeded. 

Weeds May he a Protection 

Last August I visited a number of newly seeded alfalfa fields in a 
central state. Some of them had been sown with a nurse crop last 
spring; others had been sown alone in June. They were all very 
weedy. 

"Where in the world do all those weeds come from? My land is 
usually not weedy and I use good, clean seed. What shall we do 
about them?" These were universal questions wherever I went. 

"Let them alone," I replied. "They are short and nearly ripe 
now and will soon stop growing. This winter the dead stalks will 
hold the snow and prevent winter injury from alternate freezing 
and thawing. The dry weather has been favorable to their growth. 
They do some damage, but cutting them close to the surface would 
hurt the alfalfa still more. 

Clipping First Year to be Avoided 

"It's only when weeds get up about two feet high, and are 
so thick that the alfalfa is in danger of actually being crowded out, 
that clipping should be practiced. Then get out your mower and 
whack them off, setting the cutting bar at lea st six inches above the 
ground, so as to cut as little of the alfalfa and as much of the weeds 
as possible. Haul off the clippings before they smother the plants 

50 



beneath. Attend to this in August. Late fall clipping or cutting 
oi^pasturing is very dangerous to a new stand of alfalfa. It brings 
on winterkilling, because the alfalfa may not recover rapidly enough 
to make the necessary eig ht inches of growth before winter sets in. 

Manuring New Seedings Dangerous 

Ten tons of rotted manure applied as a topdrcssing to a plowed 
field and disked in will do much to insure a good stand of alfalfa. 
Ten tons of manure, especially if strawy, applied on new alfalfa 
seeding the first fall may smother out the plants and actually ruin 
the field. The idea of applying manure on the first year's growth 




Fig. 44. Second Crop. Two Tons Per Acre. 

Alfalfa is easy to grow where seeded right on a reasonably fertile soil, 
well inoculated and abundant in lime. 

for winter protection is entirely erroneous, unless a very light appli- 
cation of fine, well-decomposed manure is used. After alfalfa has 
passed its first year it is not nearly so sensitive, and light applica- 
tions, preferably in the fall, of from six to eight tons of well-rotted 
manure will increase the yields greatly. 

Use Good Clean Seed 

In all the discussion it has been taken for granted that lime and 
inoculation have been provided for. No method will succeed un- 
less the soil conditions are right. Clean seed of good germination 
should be used. It is generally broadcasted and harrowed in. Dril- 
ling in alfalfa seed in rows four to six inches apart is very satisfactory, 
especially on sandy soils, but there is a grave danger of getting the 
seed too deep for germination. Half an inch is sufficient depth on 
heavy land and it should not be drilled in more than two inches in 
the light sands of the humid states. Under semiarid conditions, 
when the soil is very loose and dry on the surface, alfalfa is sometimes 
seeded three inches deep. Like corn and clover, alfalfa should be 
sown just deep enough to come in contact with sufficient soil mois- 
ture to sprout the seed and to get the young plants well established 
in the soil — no deeper. 

51 



A Permanent Stand of Alfalfa 

Winter-killing and its Remedies 



X'M PRETTY well soured on this alfalfa business. That fine 
ten-acre field west of the barn which I seeded two years ago 
is as dead as a doornail this spring. My neighbor's field across 
the road is in the same boat. Why, I got fifty loads off that patch 
last summer and 1 booked it for another fifty this year. 

"You wouldn't think a crop with such powerful roots would winter- 
kill. But the blamed stuff certainly does. You can go into my 
field and pull up dead alfalfa plants by the thousands. It is easy 
enough for some of these fellows to tell us how to grow alfalfa, but 
how are we going to keep it after we once get it growing? — that's 
what 1 would like to know." 

This is not a one-man outburst. It represents the sentiments 
prevalent among 5000 or more alfalfa growers in Northern Illinois, 
Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin last spring (1916). Never in years had 
there been such wholesale winterkilling of good stands of alfalfa and 
clover and even of fall wheat and rye. 

Winterkilling Disappoints 

Yes, alfalfa, like clover, winterkills; but it is not necessarily the 
cold winters with extremely low temperatures that do the damage. 
It's the open winters, with little or no snow for protection against 
heaving and injury from alternate freezing and thawing, that cause 
havoc in our best fields of clover and alfalfa. 

Flat lands are affected worst of all. Here the water from melting 
snow or spring rains accumulates and with cold weather smothering 
ice sheets put an end to the alfalfa beneath. What are we going to 
do about it? Shall we look at it as beyond prevention, as we would 
a hailstorm or a drought in the summer, or can winterkilling of al- 
falfa be controlled? We shall see. (See Fig. 40.) 

First of all, winterkilling is only a problem in those more Northern 
States where the winters are quite severe. Let me say at the out- 
set that I have no patience with the chronic kicker in those sections 
who complains about the loss of his alfalfa when he has cut or pas- 
tured it late in the fall or at any time after the first part of September. 

Resist that Temptation 

"Oh, that doesn't hurt it. I cut mine in October two years ago 
and it came through the winter in fine shape. Why, my neighbor 
fall-pastured his right down to the ground and you never saw a better 
field the next year." 1 have heard this argument time and again. 

"But how about it this spring?" 1 inquire. 

"Oh, it's just like mine. It's dead! " 

Don't Kill the Goose 

We forget that some winters may be so favorable that^the alfalfa 
is not seriously injured in spite of late cutting or late^pasturing. 

52 



I know it is a great temptation to cut a fourth crop or to" pasture it 
off late in the fall. Sometimes we are short of feed and we just have 
to take the hazard. But in doing so we are apt to kill the goose 
that lays the golden eggs. 

Late Cutting Reduces Vigor 

The field may be only partially ruined by winter's freezing, but 
the late cutting so weakens the remaining plants that their growth 
the following spring will be less vigorous, and the blue-grass and 
weeds may soon get the best of the alfalfa. (See Fig. 37.) 




Fig. 45. Eight inches of fall growth holds the snow for winter protection. 

The old standard eight-inch rule — that alfalfa should have eight 
inches of growth before freezing weather sets in — will solve the 
winterkilling problem on many farms. Alfalfa needs this much 
stubble to hold the snow for winter protection. 

May Kill in Spite Care Taken 

But it still remains that even where every regulation of growing 
and handling alfalfa has been followed out, it may winterkill. Where 
this occurs there is only one solution of the difficulty: Use seeds of 
the hardiest-known varieties. 

There is all the difference in thf^ world between various kinds of 
alfalfa. Some, like the Peruvian of the Southwest, cannot stand 
the slightest Northern frost. Others will weather through the hardest 
winters and be ready for business the following spring. (See Fig. 50,) 

I will not say that any alfalfa is absolutely winter-proof, but there 
are varieties that have a double-barreled, cast-iron hardiness which 
makes them nearly so, and far superior to the common kinds in with- 
standing the rigors of severe open winter weather. 'See Fig. 31.) 

Common American Alfalfa 

There are few commercial varieties of alfalfa grown here in the 
United States. The common purple-flowered alfalfa is the great 

53 



American variety. The original stock was brought from Spain to 
Chile and from there it was introduced into California during the 
gold-rush days, about 1854. Since then it has spread all through 
the West and today it is the great commercial alfalfa of the United 
States. 

It is an excellent variety — a good producer — fairly hardy, with a 
desirable erect and upright growing habit. 

On the market the seed is offered as "Montana grown," "Kansas 
grown," "Dakota grown," and so on, depending upon the state 
in which it was produced. There is a preference for common alfalfa 
seed from the Northern States, and in years of a big crop the North- 
ern-grown alfalfa seed sells for two to four dollars more a bushel 
than seed produced in Kansas and Nebraska, because it is claimed 
to be hardier. 

Kansas as (iootl as Montana Seed 

I have tried out alfalfa seed from all these states, and in numerous 
co-operative tests throughout Wisconsin I have found alfalfa from 
Kansas and Nebraska seed as hardy and productive in every re- 
spect as that from the common seed produced in the Dakotas or 
Montana. 

As stated before, winterkilling is not due to extremely low tem- 
peratures so much as it is to alternate freezing and thawing with 
little or no snow covering for protection of the alfalfa. Surely al- 
falfa in Kansas and Nebraska is put to the test of just such injurious 
winter weather. ^ --i ' - -' k i 

Though I have not tried alfalfa seed from every seed-producing 
county of the states mentioned, the matter of the locality in which 
the seed was produced seems to be of far less importance than has 
been previously supposed. The fact is that all common alfalfa is 
liable to serious winterkilling, whether it be from Kansas or Mon- 
tana grown seed, especially in those years when snow does not pro- 
tect it. 

When Common Alfalfa Winterkills 

In June, 1914, I seeded sixteen separate plots with various strains 
of alfalfa seed coming from Kansas, Nebraska, Montana and the 
Dakotas. Excellent stands were obtained in 1915. But the winter 
of 1915-16 took its toll. Only four of those plots came through in 
excellent shape. 

Fifty-five per cent of the plants in the several Dakota and Mon- 
tana plots were killed. Last summer (1916) those plots yielded in 
two cuttings only 3842 pounds an acre of cured alfalfa hay. The two 
Kansas and Nebraska plots winterkilled fifty-two per cent, but 
yielded 4470 pounds of cured hay an acre in two cuttings. 

The four banner plots were seeded with seed of the variegated 
varieties of alfalfa — two with Grimm and two with Baltic. The 
average winterkilling for these four plots was only twenty-seven per 
cent and the remaining plants spread out so rapidly and so early in 
the spring that this injury was not even perceptible. These four 
plots averaged 6045 pounds of cured hay an acre in two cuttings — 
a ton more than the common kinds that had been seeded under 
identically the same conditions. (See hig. 48.) 

54 



Winter Resistant Alfalfas 

There is no doubt about it — the best alfalfas for those sections 
where winterkilling is a problem are the variegated strains. They 
are the hardiest longest-lived and best all-round producing alfalfas 
yet discovered for the snow-bound states. 

There are three principal varieties or strains grown here in the 
United States — Grimm, Baltic and Cossack. The Grimm is by far 
the most widely grown of the^three and its seed can generally be 
purchased^at the lowest cost. 




Fig. 46. Cultivated rows of Grimm alfalfa grown in Nebraska for seed. 

Thess are called variegated alfalfas because, instead of having all 
their blossoms purple, a considerable percentage of them have a 
variety of colors ranging all the way from white, light yellow and 
green to smoky hues of purple, brown and blue. They are hybrid 
alfalfas and have resulted from a natural cross between the common 
purple-flowered variety and the hardy but poor-producing yellow- 
flowered alfalfa which the scientists call Medicago falcata. Be- 
cause of its rather pDor yields and low spreading habit, yellow- 
flowered alfalfa is not and will probably never be of any commercial 
importance in the East or Middle West. 

Grimm, Baltic and Cossack — All Good 

The three variegated varieties, Grimm, Baltic and Cossack, are 
all good, and there is no data to show that for the humid areas one 
is better than another. For success they must be seeded with the 
same care and cultivated in the same way as the common strains. 

Where Grimm Alfalfa Started 

According to the records, Grimm alfalfa was introduced into 
Carver County, Minnesota, in 1857, by Wendelin Grimm, an im- 
migrant from Baden, Germany. He brought with him fifteen or 
twenty pounds of alfalfa seed, and sowed it in the spring of 1858. 
Just how well this first seeding of the "ewiger Klee" — everlasting 
clover — as he called it, succeeded is not definitely known, but at 



55 



least enough of the plants survived to furnish seed for future sow- 
ings, and in 1867, 480 pounds were threshed from three acres and 
sold in Minneapolis. 

In after years it seems that Mr. Grimm's neighbors attempted to 
grow alfalfa with common seed produced in other states, but in 
nearly every case the stands winterkilled, while the fields of Grimm 
were not injured. The attention of the Minnesota station was 




Fig. 47. Threshing Grimm alfalfa seed in Montana. 

called to this alfalfa in 1901, and by careful experimentation Grimm 
alfalfa was found to be far superior to common kinds to withstand 
unfavorable winters. Since then its growth has been widely ex- 
tended in the alfalfa-seed-producing states of the West, but even 
now the Grimm seed is high priced and it is rather hard to get the 
genuine article. 

Origin of Baltic and Cossack 

The Baltic alfalfa originated near the little town of Baltic, South 
Dakota, and is very similar to the Grimm. 

The much-advertised Cossack alfalfa was procured in 1907 by the 
United States Department of Agriculture from Russia. It has a 
more widely variegated flower than Grimm, but there is no evidence 
that it is superior in yields or hardiness in the humid states to Grimm 
or Baltic. 



56 



Alfalfas That Do and Don't Winterkill 

Why Variegated Alfalfas are Hardy 



^Y^HAT makes variegated alfalfa hardier than common alfalfa? 
\tj Is it the widely spreading crown or the more widely branched 
^^^ roots? Or is hardiness, just an inherited characteristic coming 
from the rugged paternal yellow-flowered variety? 

Probably all three have something to do with it. Variegated 
alfalfa has both branched and straight tap rooted plants. But the 
percentage of branched-rooted plants is considerably higher than m 
the common alfalfa. This may make it more resistant to the heav- 
ing effect of freezing and thawing weather. 

The crown of the variegated alfalfa is large, d'cidedly low-set, 
widely branched and spreading. It may be partly or cornpletely 
submerged in the soil. Common alfalfa, on the other hand, has a 
smaller, erect crown, generally high-set above the ground, and more 
exposed to the injury of alternate freezing and thawmg. 

Fall Dormancy 

A most interesting characteristic of variegated alfalfa is that it 
prepares itself for the siege of winter. After the third cutting its 
development is rather sluggish. It may grow six or eight inches by 
the middle of October, when common alfalfa will be a foot or more 
in height. It then begins to turn brown, becomes dormant and 
stops growing, regardless of abundant rains and mild fall weather. 
It goes to bed early. 

Alfalfa that Hibernates 

It hardens itself for the severity of the oncoming cold It is like 
a burrowing animal. It begins to hibernate early in the fall, and 
gets itself in that protective dormant condition m which it can stand 
freezing without being frozen to death. 

The common alfalfa keeps right on producing a succulent growth 
until a sudden freeze puts an abrupt end to its fall activity. 1 his 
sudden change, 1 believe, is one of the reasons for the greater sen- 
sitiveness of common alfalfa to winter injury, (bee big. J>0.j 

An Early-to-bed and Early-to-rise Alfalfa 

The variegated strains are the early-to-bed-and-early-to-rise al- 
falfas. They are the first to slumber in the fall and the first to 
hearken to the awakening call of spring's gentle breezes. 1 have 
seen many instances where the variegated has made from four to 
six inches of growth in the early spring while adjacent plots of the 
common were just getting well started. (See Figs. 48 and 5 I . ) 

I do not wish to give the impression that variegated alfa tas are 
better yielders than the common strains, for that is only partly true 
Common alfalfa is a most excellent producer, provided it has not 



57 



been injured by winterkilling. When variegated alfalfa yields more 
than the common it is due mainly to its ability to withstand winter 
injury. 

High Priced Seed 

The greatest drawbacks to the general growth of variegated al- 
falfa are the high cost of the seed and the difficulty of getting the 
genuine article. There is no way of distinguishing the seed of Grimm, 
Baltic or Cossack from the common seed of the market. 

I am informed that so-called Grimm seed has been (1916) 
retailed at twenty cents a pound. Is it the real Grimm-* I 
don't know. From correspondence with about thirty Western grow- 
ers of strains cf variegated alfalfa seed their quotations will average 




Fig. 48. Grimm and Baltic First in Spring Growth. 

The dark plots (9) and (11) are the variegated varieties, Grimm and 
Baltic — two years old. They have not winterkilled and have made a growth 
of five inches while the adjacent common strains (8), (10) and (12) of the 
same age have hardly begun to grow. 

Photo taken April 19 16. 

more than double this figure. It is hard for an honest seedsman to 
compete with the fellow who will buy common seed and sell it as 
variegated, or who will adulterate his variegated with cheaper seed. 

Genuine Seed 

Fortunately the growers of Grimm, Baltic and Cossack alfalfa 
seed are organizing and offering the public certified seed in sealed 
sacks. Success to them! Many of the adverse reports we hear 
regarding Grimm alfalfa may be due to use of seed that was not 
genuine. 

For seed production variegated strains are especially profitable. 
They bring a handsome figure, and the demand will increase rapidly 
as the price is reduced to a commercial basis. The farmers of the 
humid states, where there has been trouble from winterkilling and 
where alfalfa-seed growing is not a success, are willing to pay extra 

58 




Fig. 49. Cold Resistant Roots of Grimm Alfalfa. 

Grimm alfalfa, like all truly variegated varieties, has a more distinctly 
branched root system and a more widely spreading crown than the common 
strains. 



59 




Fig. 50. Survival of the Hardiest. 

The Grimm stood the test. Common Montana alfalfa (to right' 
winterkilled 78 per cent. Plots seeded at same time and in same wayi 
June 1914, and gave excellent yields in 1915. But the second winter ruined 
the common Montana strain while the Grimm variety only six feet away 
came through the very severe winter of 191 5- 16 without apparent injury 
and, yielded double the amount of weed free hay. Photo taken June 19 16. 



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Fig. 51. Following Hard Winters Grimm Makes Rapid Growth. 
Plots sown, June 1914. Photo taken April 1916. 

Note vigorous early spring growth of Grimm in comparison with the two 
common strains on either side which were so weakened and badly winterkilled 
by the open winter of 1915-16 that they have scarcely begun to grow. 



60 



for variegated seed when they are assured that it is genuine; but 
with the necessarily heavy rates of seeding they will be interested 
only in a small way in quotations from fifty cents to one dollar a 
pound. If they could grow their own seed the initial seed cost would 
not be a serious matter. 

Fortunately, with the rapid extension of the acreage of variegated 
alfalfa in the West, prices are approaching more nearly a point where 
the consumer will buy these special varieties in large quantities. 

New Seedings of Common Alfalfa are Hardy 

In order to avoid disappointing those who may try out variegated 
alfalfa in comparison with the common the writer wishes to empha- 
size the fact that there may be little difference in yields and general 
appearance the first year after seeding. It is only under unusually 
severe climatic conditions that the variegated will demonstrate its 
superiority in a one-year trial. 

I have sown plots with common Kansas and Nebraska grown 
alfalfa seed costing thirteen cents a pound, which after a hard winter 
were equal in every respect to plots of Grimm, Baltic and Cossack, 
the seed of which cost five times as much. Not so, however, fol- 
lowing the second winter. Common alfalfa loses some of its hardi- 
ness after it is one year old, and becomes more susceptible to winter 
injury with increasing age. 1 don't know why, but it does. Here's 
an example — one of many that I could give: 

June 23, 1915, I seeded a plot of alfalfa with Montana seed in the 
same manner, under the same soil conditions and with the same 
strain of seed — taken out of the same bag — as a similar plot not 
more than three rods distant, which was sown June 27, 1914. Both 
these plots had excellent stands in the fall of 1915, but in the spring 
of 1916 seventy-six per cent of the plants in the two-year-old plot 
had winterkilled, while of the new seeding only nine per cent of 
winterkilling occured. 

Just why old stands of common alfalfa winterkill more seriously 
than new seedings is a problem not yet solved, but that it is a fact is 
further substantiated by 165 reports from members of the Alfalfa 
Order in 1916, three-quarters of whom declared their old stands 
winterkilled much more badly than the new seedings of 1915. 

HardiiK'ss of Alfalfa and Clover 

The significance of this characteristic lies in drawing conclusions 
from comparative tests with different kinds of alfalfa and clover. 
It is claimed by some that alfalfa is more subject to winterkilling 
than is red clover. If you compare new seedings of red clover with 
old seedings of common alfalfa you may find it so. But if you com- 
pare new seedings of clover with new seedings of alfalfa growing 
under equally favorable conditions the alfalfa will be the hardier of 
the two. Variegated alfalfa is always hardier. I 

To make a fair comparison of common and variegated alfalfa the 
test should be conducted for two or more years. If the second 
winter happens to be favorable there may not be a great difference 
until the third year. It takes a severe winter to put the two kinds 
to the test, and we can judge fairly of their merits only when they 
have weathered at least two winters. 

61 



Common Alfalfa for Rotations 

Farmers of the Eastern and Middle- Western States who are grow- 
ing alfalfa in short three or four year rotations, as they do red clover, 
will generally find common alfalfa hardy enough to produce good 
yields for one or two years. But most farmers want alfalfa for a 
pernnanent hay crop. They want fields that will last eight or ten 
years. If common alfalfa fills this requirement let well enough alone. 

In the Eastern States much of the alfalfa seed offered on the mar- 
ket has been imported from Russian Turkestan. We speak of it as 
imported or Turkestan alfalfa. This seed is often infested with 
buckhorn. Then the fact that it generally has a short fall growth 
and tendency to produce only two good crops — if three, the third is 
rather light — has brought it into disrepute. (See hig. 38.) 

Turkestan Hardy 

I have tried out some imported Turkestan seed and have found it 
hardy, lasting longer than common alfalfa and always having a de- 
cided tendency to go into a protective state of dormancy early in 




Fig. 52. White Seeds in Turkestan. 

Imported Turkestan alfalfa seed either has a dull grayish color or if 
polished the surface feels much rougher than American grown seed. It can 
also be identified by the distinct presence of ivory white seeds of Russian 
Knapweed which are generally considered harmless. They are seldom found 
in seed from any other source. 

the fall. But, due to the superiority of the variegated alfalfas and 
the uncertainty of origin, the Turkestan alfalfa seed or seed imported 
from any other source has not been encouraged or endorsed. 

Fortunately commercial Turkestan alfalfa seed can be identified 
in most cases by its lighter grayish color or rough surface and the 
almost always present ivory-white seeds of Russian knapweed, which 
are seldom if ever found in alfalfa seed from any other source. 



62 



Transplanting Alfalfa 



[OME alfalfa enthusiasts have laid considerable emphasis on 
transplanting. The plan is briefly as follows: 
Sow alfalfa in the spring in rows three feet apart. Cultivate 
several times to keep down weeds. Dig up rows of plants in fall. 
Cut back central roots to six inch length and transplant individual 
plants in checks 3 feet by 3 feet. The following year cultivate 
several times to keep out weeds and blue-grass. (See Fig. 39.) 

Is this a practical method of growing alfalfa on our fertile farms 
here in Wisconsin^ Have we time and can we afford to grow a hay 
crop like we would cabbage or strawberries? That transplanting 
under average conditions is a laborious, costly and impractical 
method of growing alfalfa is a statement not necessary to make 
to those who are farming for dollars and cents. In parts of 
the arid West transplanting has proven quite successful for seed 
production with hardy varieties. In Wisconsin there may be special 
soil conditions, such as the sandy soils where this transplanting 
method might be of some value, but this matter is entirely in the ex- 
perimental stage and as yet no one has demonstrated its practicability. 

Cossack vs. Griniin 

Cossack alfalfa plants and seed have, in some sections, been wide- 
ly if not wildly advertised and sold at fabulous prices for trans- 
planting. 

We have had the Cossack alfalfa under trial now for three years. 
It is a variegated strain like the Grimm and Baltic. We have found 
it an excellent variety but so far in no way superior in hardiness and 
yields to the Grimm or Baltic. A neighboring experiment station 
has tested out the Cossack and arrived at this same conclusion. We 
hope that future tests may show it to be even better than the Grimm 
or Baltic. 

With all its excellent qualities we would not see fit to generally 
recommend Cossack alfalfa in Wisconsin if the seed were to cost 
$2.00 a pound. For the most part alfalfa seed production in Wis- 
consin has not been a commercial success due primarily to our abun- 
dant rainfall which favors stem an J leaf growth far more than seed 
setting. If it were the initial cost of the seed it would not be a ser- 
ious matter because we could raise our own supply and sell the sur- 
plus at a fancy figure, such as we were required to pay. With our 
humid conditions we are for the most part dependent upon the more 
arid West for our supply of seed. For this reason we have been 
very cautious in the past not to recommend any variety of alfalfa 
until we were assured our farmers could secure genuine seed at fairly 
reasonable prices. We believe Grimm will continue to become lower 
in price as time goes on and as the production out West increases. 
Cossack alfalfa seed is quite scarce, but it too, will become cheaper 
as the production increases. 

63 



Plant Comparison Not Always Reliable 

Some very unfair comparisons and statements have been made 
regarding the Grimm variety. I have on my desk an illustration 
showing a row of ten rather small two year old plants of Grimm 
alfalfa. Below these is shown thirteen immense Cossack plants said 
to be of the same age. I was told that the ten plants of Grimm 
in the illustration were taken from a field which had been broad- 
casted at the rate of 1 5 pounds of seed an acre and where there 
were from five to fifteen plants for every square foot of soil. 
According to information received the large Cossack plants which 
were said to be of the same age as the Grimm were transplanted in 
checks about two and a half feet apart each way and cultivated, 
thus providing from six to f eight square feet of cultivated soil for 
each plant of the Cossack! No wonder they grew big! Is it 
fair to compare the size of Grimm alfalfa plants from a thickly 
seeded field with .transplanted Cossack plants, having six or more 
square feet of free soil for the use of each plant to'spread out and 
develop? 




fe / 




Fig. 53. Are Plants 5 and 6 of a Superior Variety? 

No. All plants in this illustration arc of the same variety, same age, 
and come from the same Kansas grown seed. Why the difference? Plants 
I, 2, 3 and 4 are three years old and were taken from a field of thick alfalfa 
which had been broadcasted at the rate of 20 lbs. of seed an acre. Plants 
5 and 6 were taken from this same field when one year old and transplanted 
in checks 3x3 feet. Their increased size has resulted from cultivation and 
free available space for development. The branched growth of roots always 
occurs when alfalfa of any variety is transplanted and the main root is cut 
back. Sometimes comparisons like this are unfairly used to show the su- 
periority of one variety over another. 

Transplanting Develops Widely Branching Roots 

Transplant Grimm alfalfa and force it along like a garden veg- 
etable in the same way as those Cossack plants were grown and it 
will produce these very immense crowns and roots. Even common 
ordinary alfalfa will grow big sturdy plants if transplanted, culti- 



64 



vated and developed under this costly and laborious "tobacco me- 
thod" of growing alfalfa. We frequently hear of tap and branch 
rooted varieties of alfalfa. The Grimm, Baltic and Cossack are 
more distinctly branch rooted than the common. But every alfalfa 
becomes branch rooted with transplanting. The central roots fail 
to grow in length after they are cut back and hence they immedi- 
ately develop an extensive lateral or side root growth. This is true 
not only of Cossack but of the Grimm and comm.on as well. (See 
Fig. 53.) 

Bifi Plants do not Mean Big Yields 

Many have been given a small packet of Cossack alfalfa seed 
with instructions to seed in rows and then transplant (3x3 ft.) 
in the garden. These plants are given garden care. They grow to 
be of tremendous size and the conclusion naturally follows that 
this Cossack is a very unusual alfalfa. But we forget that the Grimm 
or Baltic transplanted in the same way will produce equally sur- 
prising results as far as big plants with immense branched roots and 
crowns are concerned. The only way two or more varieties of al- 
falfa can be rightly compared is to seed them under identically the 
same conditions. (See Pig. 53.) 

The Cossack alfalfa is a good variety. It's a highly desirable 
alfalfa from the standpoint of yields and hardiness. Its widely 
variegated flower may become a characteristic of commercial im- 
portance as time goes on. We are not in any sense opposed to 
Cossack alfalfa as a variety. In fact we have great faith in it— 
but there are other good alfalfas as well. 

Transplanting Fails in Test 

While we have had only limited experience with transplanting 
alfalfa the results of our tests have been more disappointing than 
we ever anticipated. Four years ago (1913) we transplanted three 
small plots of fertile clay loam soil with variegated and yellow blos- 
somed alfalfas to observe seed production. Every plant failed to 
produce seed in any appreciable quantity. In spite of frequent 
hoeing and cultivation blue-grass took possession of the plots the 
second year and a year ago we plowed them up. 

In September, 1916, we transplanted a twentieth acre plot of 
rich loam soil with Baltic, Cossack and common purple-flowered 
Montana alfalfa to test out hay production. The plants were put 
in checks 3x3 feet. Last spring and during the summer they were 
cultivated six tim.es but the weeds were abundant in the fall in spite 
of our determined efforts. Adjacent broadcasted plots seeded 
in 1915 were practically weed free without any cultivation. In 
two cuttings the three broadcasted plots with plants from the same 
seed and of the same age as the transplanted area yielded an average 
of 9400 pounds of cured hay an acre. The transplanted plots av- 
eraged for two cuttings only 600 pounds of cured hay an acre. We 
are hoping for better results in the future (See Fig. 39.) 

In the seed growing sections of the West transplanting seems 
to have been used very effectually in disseminating new and hardy 
varieties of alfalfa where seed was available only in limited amounts. 
One pound of seed will produce enough plants for about an acre of 
transplanted alfalfa. In other words, transplanting is a means of 

65 



rapidly increasing the seed supply of new varieties by making a 
"little seed go a long ways." But in the humid areas of the East 
and Middle West, seed production is not a practical or general suc- 
cess. 

High Priced Seed. 

Here, alfalfa seed, at such excessive prices of from one to two 
dollars a pound has been advertised and sold for transplanting on 
the basis of one acre only requiring about one pound of seed. If 
transplanting were successful for hay production or seed production 
in the humid states the price of the seed would not be of serious 
consequence, but in the light of our experience in Wisconsin it appears 
to us that transplanting has been primarily advocated by some as 
a means of selling special varieties of alfalfa at fabulous sums. 



When to Cut Alfalfa 



^^-/HE first crop of alfalfa should be cut when the field is in the 
I ) advanced bud or has just begun to bloom. Of course, we cannot 
^^^ give any set date for this cutting but it will come about the last of 
May or the first of June, depending much on the season. Just at the 
time the flower buds have formed at the top of the plant and per- 
haps a few of them have already blossomed, it is well to examine 
the crowns of plants in several places throughout the field. (Fig. 6.) 

Watch for the New Sprouts 

Here at the base of the stems will be found the little shoots or 
sprouts which produce the second growth and crop. They may be 
very small and you may not find many. It is best then to wait for 
a few days before cutting until you can observe a considerable num- 
ber of these tiny little leaves and stems sprouting from the base of 
the alfalfa plants. When they have reached an average length of 
from one quarter to three quarters of an inch — the cutting stage is 
at hand. The experienced alfalfa grower knows only too well how 
important it is not to delay the mowing if rain does not interfere. 

The small shoots once started grow very rapidly because after the 
alfalfa begins to blossom much of its strength is utilized in devel- 
opment of the second growth. If it becomes two to three inches 
or more in length the sickle will cut the tops off and these small 
stalks will be checked in their growth. New shoots will then slowly 
develop from the crowns and the second crop of alfalfa will be delayed 
from two to three weeks in its growth and harvest. Furthermore, if 
the soil is infested with blue-grass, or foxtail, or other plant enemies 
of alfalfa, they may soon take possession of the field and seriously 
crowd the alfalfa while it is slowly recovering from the effects of 
having the first and the beginning of the second crop cut at the 
same time. This is what happens if alfalfa is cut when in full 
bloom. Furthermore, the delay not only applies to the second crop 
but the third crop as well, which should never be cut later than the 
second week in September in the northern states. However, if the 
third crop is not ready until the middle or latter part of Septem- 

66 



ber it is so often cut regardless of this late date as it seems such a 
waste to allow a good rich growth of alfalfa hay to remain unhar- 
vested. 











Fig. 54. Late Cutting Delays Succeeding Growth. 

Tall alfalfa (on left) shows excellent growth following cutting at right 
stage. Short alfalfa (on right) shows delayed growth due to cutting previous 
crop when passed proper stage. 

Late Fall Cutting Dangerous 

There are occasional seasons where alfalfa may not winterkill, 
cutting even as late as the last of September; but these are the ex- 
ceptions rather than the rule. (See Pigs. 14 and 37.) 

I know of one instance where a field of 40 acres was entirely win- 
terkilled due to cutting the last of September. Similar cases with 
smaller fields are only too numerous. It is probably a matter of 
the alfalfa not attaining sufficient growth prior to the first fall 
frost to hold the snow and protect the crop. Furthermore, it is un- 
doubtedly true that alfalfa cut late in the fall, even though it may 
only partially winterkill, does not grow nearly so vigorously the 
following spring and is more apt to be run out by blue-grass than 
would be the case if the third crop were not cut at all. In the 
northern states it is much wiser to leave the last crop stand if it is 
not ready to harvest prior to September 10th and be content with 
two crops. The alfalfa will generally be ready to cut, however, early 
enough in the fall to avoid all dangers of winterkilling if the first 
and second crops have been cut at the proper stage. 

When Alfalfa is Affected With Leaf Spot Cut Early 

There| is a common disease of alfalfa called leaf spot which we 
know little about. However, it has some influence on the time and 
stage of cutting alfalfa. Generally all the lower leaves are most 
badly affected and become covered with brown spots. They soon 
turn yellow and drop off. In time the entire plant becomes infected 
and the field appears yellowish green and sickly. The great loss of 
leaves results in a lower yield and a poorer quality of hay. This 



67 



outbreak is most prevalent about one or two weeks before the first 
cutting. In serious cases immediate cutting is very advisable as 
the second crop will come up green and healthy and practically free 
from the disease. When a plant is thus diseased it seems that its 
strength and energy are thrown into the little shoots at the crowns 
which consequently grow much more rapidly. This permits much 
earlier cutting and also facilitates the harvesting before the hay is 




Fig. 55. Cutting Too Early Kills. 

Cutting alfalfa too early is bad. The succeeding growth is so severely 
checked that weeds and grasses spring up and choke out the alfalfa. 

seriously damaged by the disease in the way of a loss of leaves. The 
second growth generally comes entirely free of the disease but it 
may appear prior to the cutting of the second crop. Only in cases 
where leaf spot is very serious, and this to be gauged by the develop- 
ment of shoots at the crowns, is extreme early cutting desirable. 
Generally those alfalfa fields which lack inoculation or need lime 
are most badly affected with leaf spot. 

Dangerous to Cut Alfalfa too Early 

Cutting alfalfa before the proper stage sometimes causes such a 
serious thinning of the stand that weeds and blue-grass soon take 
possession of the field. While this seldom occurs instances are on 
record where serious damage has resulted. We have observed it in 
our experimental work where early and frequent cutting have been 
tested out. Reports from Woodlawn Farm at Mechanicsburg, Ohio 
show a decided injury from cutting swaths of alfalfa thru their fields 
before the proper cutting stage in preparation for a state alfalfa 
growers' picnic. 



68 



Alfalfa Haying and the Weather 

How to Cure the Crop in a Rainy Spell 



^TT^ELL, Sam, you are going to have your hands full to get those 
f I J ten acres cured and dry with this rainy June weather!" 
^*^^ It was Sam's neighbor speaking. He had never grown a 
spear of alfalfa in his life, and he was a little bit envious of the fine 
stand just across the fence. 

"Yes," replied Sam, "I'll have my hands full all right, but I am 
going to have my barns full, too — full of the finest hay in all the 
world. Worth twice as much for feeding as the timothy I have 
been growing and you are still growing. I am not worrying about 
handling alfalfa, but I was worried for a few years about getting'it 
started." 




Fig. 56. Hay Caps for Rainy Weather. 

They insure valuable alfalfa hay against weather losses. 

"Well," interjected the neighbor, "you'll be worried before you 
get through with it, or I'll miss my guess. This alfalfa business 
isn't all sunshine and roses. We cut our timothy in July when 
there's little rain, and it's easy to cure. What are you going to do 
if it keeps on raining? Your field is ready to cut right now!" 

Can't Slop Haiii 

"Let it rain! Can't stop it! They've been talking about the 
weather now for centuries, but nothing has ever been done about it. 
Besides, we need rain to push the com and wheat along. If I lose 
this first crop I'll have two more coming anyway. But I don t in- 
tend to lose it. " 

Sam was feeling good-natured in spite of ten rainy days and ten 
acres of alfalfa anxiously ready to be cut. 

69 



Hay Caps 

"I just bought four hundred hay caps, forty by forty inches," he 
went on. "The first clear day I am going to cut the whole business, 
rake it up the next day and bunch it into cocks of about one hundred 
pounds each, put on the canvas caps with weights at each corner 
and let her rain! That's Governor Hoard's way of making alfalfa 
hay. They say he swears by it, and he has grown alfalfa a good 
many years. 

"Of course, it looks like a lot of work for fellows who are used to 
doing things in quick fashion with a side delivery and the hay loader. 
And if it wasn't for this continued rain 1 wouldn't bother with hay 
caps. I'd cure it in the windrow and load it up with my drum loader. 
But with such rains as we have had alfalfa in windrows would have 
to be handled with a six-tined fork. It would either be silage or 
manure. So 1 thought 1 would try out the caps." 

Haying with Napkins 

"Well, Sam," replied the neighbor, "if there is one thing that has 
kept me from growing alfalfa it has been this fancy napkin way of 
putting up the hay. Somehow 1 got the idea that the only way it 
was possible to get alfalfa cured so you could safely put it in the 



J 



^8 







;: 2£Si!uiEaHiii£^^H«ia>!' 



Fig. 57. Saving Labor. 

The bunches are spread out to dry the interior before loading. 

barn was to cock it up, put a canvas cap on it, and then after a few 
days pitch and load the whole business just the way we made hay 
years ago. For us that's too slow. It may be all right for the fellow 
with a little patch, but when you have got forty or fifty acres to 
harvest — why, if we had that much alfalfa wa would be haying until 
Christmas, and then not be through!'' 

The Hustler's Hay 

"I quite agree with you, " replied Sam. "You will remember 
that last yaar 1 put up my threa crops with the side delivery and 

70 



loader, and you wouldn't ask for nicer hay than I had. But 1 was 
lucky — didn't get one drop of rain on that hay. With this kind of 
weather there's little chance of curing alfalfa in the windrow. That's 
why I'm going to bunch it and use the hay caps and play safe. 

"I don't like this way of making hay, either, but I believe it pays 
when you have weather like this to contend with. It's the only way 
you can save a crop that's worth twenty dollars and more a ton right 
now. I intend to take a chance on bad weather with my second and 
third cuttings and do the job up quick with our side delivery rake 
and drum loader. 

"You're right — this alfalfa proposition is not all sunshine and 
roses. There are a lot of things a fellow doesn't figure on when he 
first starts out. It keeps you hustling to get alfalfa started, and it 
keeps you hustling after you have it started. It's no lazy man's 
crop. It's the hustler's hay. And a fellow who works as hard as 
you do ought to grow this very kind of hay. Why don't you try a 
few acres? " 

"Going to," replied the neighbor. "That's why I've been talking 
to you and getting your views. Good day, Sam." 

A Sure Method 

I have listened many times to this sort of conversation. Out 
West the sun shines most of the summer and it is easy to make hay 
when the sun shines. But if you asked me the way to get the bright- 
est and leafiest green alfalfa hay under the average humid conditions 
of the Corn Belt and Eastern States I should advise this procedure: 

Cut your alfalfa on a day that promises to be fair. Cut it when 
the little sprouts of the next growth at the crown of the plant have 
made about an inch of growth. Set the mower bar to leave two 
inches of stubble so as not to injure these new sprouts or growing 
points of the next crop. (See Pig. 6.) 

Cut at Right Stage 

If rain prevents you from cutting at this stage and the sprouts 
grow two inches or more, then set the bar still higher, so as not to 
clip them any more than is absolutely necessary. This is very im- 
portant. Clipping off these fresh growths checks their develop- 
ment so that the following crop will be delayed from, ten to twenty 
days. This means lower yields, and in the Northern States it m.ay 
result in the total loss of the third crop, since cutting after the first 
week in September in a section where early frosts occur may not 
give sufficient time for the eight inches of fall growth necessary for 
winter protection. But now about the curing. 

Do not Dry Alfalfa in .Swath 

Can we cure alfalfa in the swath as we do timothy? Not if we 
want to get good hay. At least half the feeding value of the alfalfa 
plant is in the leaves. With their thin, much-exposed surfaces they 
dry out quickly, become brittle and break off in handling. The 
thicker stems cure very slowly, and, if they are stored when too 
moist, heating in the m^ow or stack may occur. 

Alfalfa should not remain in the swath any longer than necessary 

71 



to become well wilted. This may only require four or five hours 
after cutting in hot, dry weather, or a day if the weather is cool, 
damp or cloudy. The wilted hay can be raked and bunched with- 
out loss of leaves into cocks of about one hundred pounds each. 
Larger cocks may heat and mold in the center. (See Fig. 36.) 




Fig. 58. Rapid Methods for Large Acreages. 

With a good hay loader alfalfa can be loaded from the cock 
or windrow without waste. 

Beware of Hay Stored when Damp with Dew or Rain 

Under no circumstances should alfalfa hay damp with dew or 
rain be bunched, raked or stored. Invariably this causes molding, 
severe heating and possible burning in the mow or stack. 

With favorable weather alfalfa will be ready to store two days 
after bunching. With frequent rains it may require one or even 
two weeks. I have seen cases where alfalfa round the cocks had 
grown six inches in height before the hay could be hauled in. 

What about the plants under the cocks? Will they be smothered 
out? Perhaps they will, but not likely. I have left cocks of alfalfa 
hay on the same places in the field for two weeks straight without 
injury other than delaying the development of the plants beneath 
and giving the field an uneven growth and spotted appearance. It 
is a good plan to move the bunches after five or six days, as this 
will produce a more uniform growth of the following crop. 

How Alfalfa Cures in Biinehes 

The curing process which goes on when well-wilted alfalfa is bunched 
is quite remarkable. Neither the leaves nor the stems are dead. 
The life processes of the plant continue and the moisture moves up 
the stems through the leaves, resulting in a uniform curing of the 
hay. In fact the leaves act as pumps in their dying attempts to 
secure moisture from the stems. 

An hour or so before loading the canvas cap is removed and the 
cocks are spread apart and opened up to wind and sun to free the 
interior from any surplus moisture. The hay is then ready to be 
loaded with a drum hay loader, or pitched by hand. 

Best Hay but not always Best Method 

With this method the brightest green hay is obtained with the 
least loss of leaves; the hay caps are a security against rain. Is 
it practicable? Ask a small farmer with ten to twenty acres and 

72 



he will swear by it. It is important for him to play sure and to take 
no weather risks. Large growers who are accustomed to using hay 
loaders and sweep rakes, side deliveries and the like often scoff at 
the idea, claiming it impracticable and out of the question with their 
more extensive farm operations. 

What Peter Swartz Says 

Peter Swartz, of the Cornfalfa Farms, not only enjoys thel dis- 
tinction of being the largest alfalfa grower in Wisconsin, but was 
recently elected president of the largest and most active alfalfa 
growers' association in the United States — the Wisconsin Alfalfa 
Order. He has this to say about curing alfalfa hay by the cock- 
and-cap method: 

"You get the best hay. It is the surest way of curing alfalfa and 
it is all right for the man with ten to fifteen acres. But it isjtoo 
slow, costly and laborious for our hundred and ninety acres. We 
have to use methods that are more rapid and that require less hand 
labor. We have to use machine labor wherever possible. [Farm 
labor is scarce and will be scarcer if the war continues." (See Fig. 34.) 




Fig. 59. Haying in a Hurry. 

For stacking large acreages of alfalfa, sweep rakes may be used. 

Side Delivery Rakes for Windrowing 

"We rake our wilted hay from the swath into windrows with side- 
delivery rakes. With two days of fair weather it is generally ready 
to store, but an hour or so before loading we turn the windrow bot- 
tom side up with the side deliveries to allow the hay next to the 
ground to dry out. Oh, yes, we gamble on the weather, but we 
make hay while the sun shines to beat the band. If it rains we stir 
up our windrows by turning them over with the rakes. (See Fig. 35.) 

"After the damp hay is thoroughly dry we load it with drum 
loaders and put it in the mow, or if our barns are full we stack out- 
side, using sweep rakes. It's wonderful how much rain alfalfa will 
stand and still make good hay. It will stand bad weather far better 
than timothy or clover. Of course the rain hurts it, but it's sur- 
prising how well the cattle do on rained-on, bleached alfalfa hay." 

73 



Sweep Rakes 

The Cornfalfa Farms are among the few east of the Mississippi 
that make use of sweep rakes. With them the hay is shoved out of 
the windrow to the stack, where it is elevated with shngs and a two- 
pole stacker. Haying in this way is very rapid. It is not only 




Fig. 60. Sweep Rake in Action. 

Shoving the ha\ from windrow to stack. 

pleasant for the operator of a sweep rake, who may ride in a canvas 
seat back of the team, but the nice green alfalfa hay accumulating 
in front of the horses gives them an inspiration to go forward! 

Green and Brown Cures 

When alfalfa is stored in the mow or stack it will maintain its 
bright green color if it has been thoroughly cured in the cock or 
windrow under favorable weather conditions. When it is stored a 
little on the green side, while the stems still contain a considerable 
amount of the plant juice, heating and fermentation occur in the 
stack and a very aromatic and palatable brown hay results. 

To avoid excessive heating by storing alfalfa when it is a little too 
green it is well to distribute the hay at the time of storage over 
several bents in the barn instead of piling it up high in one mow. 
To avoid misunderstanding I repeat that it is positively dangerous 
to store any alfalfa hay if it contains moisture from dew or rain, 
because spontaneous combustion may result, or a charring or mold- 
ing which will be entirely disastrous to the feeding value of the hay. 
The interior moisture of the stems and leaves of ordinarily cured hay 
will not cause this difficulty. 

The practicability of the various ways of getting alfalfa hay in 
condition for the mow or stack will depend entirely upon the locality, 
climatic conditions, the ultimate use and value of the hay. Just 
what method should be used is largely a matter of business judg- 
ment. 



74 



CONTENTS 

PAGES 

ALFALFA CRITICISMS ANSWERED • 3- 7 

Inoculated with right ideas — blue grass troubles — alfalfa in 
the rotation. 

ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST ALFALFA 8-19 

Objections and benefits— alfalfa vs. timothy vs. clover — 
roots and nodules — a weed fighter — Canada thistles — feed- 
ing value and soil enrichment. 

LIME— WHAT ALFALFA NEEDS MOST 20-27 

Oldest alfalfa growing sections — liming, how, when, where 
and why — kinds to buy — content and requirements of al- 
falfa — litmus paper and Truog soil acidity tests. 

INOCULATION— MORE IMPORTANT THAN MANURE. 28-32 
Inoculation — how, when, where and why — not always nec- 
essary — nodules a sure indication of — glue method, cultures, 
sweet clover and alfalfa soil— by mixing alfalfa with grass 
seed. 

GETTING STARTED WITH ALFALFA 33-45 

Time, place and amount to sow— eight mch rule — danger of 
late summer seeding — soils and subsoils for alfalfa — rollmg 
sandy soils. 

GETTING A GOOD STAND .46-51 

Seeding a la Jack Frost on frozen ground — alone — after gram 
harvest — after early potatoes or canning peas — with good 
and bad nurse crops— avoid soil washing, clipping and man- 
uring new seedings. 

WINTERKILLING AND ITS REMEDIES 52-56 

How to prevent— clover vs. alfalfa— caused by late fall cut- 
ting and pasturing— Grimm, Cossack, Baltic, Turkestan var- 
ictics. 

ALFALFAS THAT DO AND DO NOT WINTERKILL ... .57-62 
Winterkilling, causes of— early-to-bed and early-to-nse al- 
falfas — new seedings of common hardy— variegated alfalfas. 

TRANSPLANTING ALFALFA • ■ • -63-64 

Effect on roots and crowns — plant comparisons not always 
reliable — fails in test — Cossack vs. Grimm. 

WHEN TO CUT ALFALFA 65-68 

Cutting first crop— at right stage— late fall cutting danger- 
ous—leaf spot disease— cutting too early and too late. 

ALFALFA HAYING AND THE WEATHER .... 69-74 

Curing in rainy weather— curing in swath, windrow, and 
cocks— haying with side delivery and sweep rakes— hay 
loaders — heating in mow — spontaneous combustion — gieen 
and brown cures. 



75 



ALFALFA POEM 



"What is the crop that always pays. 
And will mature in forty days, 
Resisting drought, the frost, the heat 
Whose roots reach down one hundred feet?' 
ALFALFA 

"What makes the swine so healthy feel, 
And never raise a hungry squeal, 
That wholesome food that never fails 
To put three curls into their tails?" 
ALFALFA 

"What makes all other stock look nice. 
And bring the highest market price, 
What fills the milk pail, feeds the calf, 
And makes the old cow almost laugh?" 
ALFALFA 

(Anon.) 



76 



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